Prisoner, Power Source, Parent?
by Forum Explorer
Summary: In a fit of rage, Kurama tries to break out of his prison. He fails, but does manage to extend his awareness to see what Naruto sees. Just in time to see him being beaten by a villager for being a demon. Angry and insulted, Kurama decides that if the village was going to treat Naruto like a demon, he would too, and raise Naruto as his own child.
1. Prologue

Kurama shifted uneasily in his prison. He cracked open an eye, a familiar wave of disgust filling him as he stared out at the bleak cavern that represented his prison. "I think the worst thing about this place is that damn dripping noise," he grumbled. "Nothing here is real. And my host doesn't know I exist. So it can't be deliberate. So what does it say about my host that his inner world is an empty and bleak cavern with an annoying dripping sound?" he roared in frustration, standing up and smashing against the iron bars of his cell. A faint spike of hatred flashed against Kurama's senses. "What? Did that annoy you brat? Can you hear me?"

"No," Kurama said, slowly. "That's not coming from my host. Something is happening." Kurama pressed against the bars of his cell, straining against the seal that kept him contained. For a moment the bars held, and Kurama felt nothing but cold metal. Then the world cracked, just a tiny bit. A minuscule crack, so small that Kurama couldn't manifest even a hair's worth of power. But while it didn't allow anything to leave, it did allow something to enter. There was a sensation of light, and Kurama eagerly pounced on it, even as the faint killing intent from earlier intensified. He poured his consciousness into the crack and found himself staring into the outside world, only to see a fist plowing into his face.

"Damn brat, a monster like you shouldn't be allowed in the village," the man slurred, clearly drunk. His host just cried, trying to protect his head and he curled up. Kurama sneered, deep in his prison. The man grabbed his host, picking him up and taking a few quick steps before tossing him into a bunch of garbage cans. "And don't ever come around my bar again!"

"Pathetic human. Taking his anger out on my prison as if it were anything more then a container. It's disgusting how pathetic they are, seeking vengeance against one who can't fight back," Kurama commented. There was another wave of killing intent from outside, as his prison looked up, seeing a masked ninja standing overhead. The ninja stared down at them for several minutes, before disappearing silently. "Hmph. No wonder my prison is so pathetic. Hated by the ninja that are supposed to guard it, punished by the villagers it's protecting," Kurama fell silent thinking. "In fact it's downright insulting. This brat may be nothing more then a prison, but he is _my_ prison. Do they think I am helpless? Do they think I could not empower him to take revenge on my behalf?" Kurama roared, his chaka flaring and flowing into the boy. The boy started, pushing trash off his body as he stared in awe as his bruises began to fade.

"Don't just sit there brat! Stand up!" Kuruama roared.

"Who's there?" The boy asked, looking around frantically.

"I'm in here you idiot," Kurama huffed.

"Huh?"

"Inside you. I'm the great Nine Tailed Fox that was sealed inside you as a child," Kurama said.

"Wha? That's crazy, I'm just an ordinary kid," the kid said. "That everyone hates for some reason," he added, miserably.

"By all the stars in the sky, did no one even tell you what you are?" Kurama asked, his voice filled with outrage. The boy didn't notice, thinking seriously about the question.

"Some of the villagers call me a demon brat when they think I can't hear them," he offered.

"Is that so?" Kurama asked, his voice dangerous. "Well that's fine then. You are _my_ prison after all,"

"What does that mean?" the kid asked.

"It means that you're mine. And as such you are expected to uphold my reputation. So I won't let you embarrass me again like you did tonight," Kurama sniffed. "I'll teach you how to behave properly as a fox demon. Now what's your name?"

"I'm Naruto," Naruto said.

"Naruto huh? That's a stupid name. But we'll make everyone remember it regardless," Kurama chuckled darkly. "Welcome to life as a demon, kit."


	2. Chapter 1

Months later Naruto ran from his pursuers, ducking down the narrow ally way.

"You damn brat," the villager yelled, bits of rotting tomato still stuck to his face. Naruto just laughed, nimbly dodging around the various obstacles he set up earlier, while the man plowed through them, cursing as he slipped in the muck. Naruto reached the end of the ally, and turned around, smiling with anticipation.

"I've got you now, punk," the villager growled, walking up. He cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to beat you black and blue."

"Yeah? What's a fatass like you going to do? Fall on me? Suffocate me in your gigantic tummy?" Naruto mocked.

"Why you-" the man's already face turned nearly purple, and he charged forward, his meaty hands grasping for Naruto, who laughed as he pulled on a rope, yanking himself upward as he sent a deluge of garbage down on top of the villager. He landed smoothly on the roof of the building beside him.

"Oh, I know. You'll smell bad at me," Naruto yelled one final taunt before running off, still laughing his head off. He jumped down towards the street, channeling chakra into his legs as he fell to take the impact of the landing. He landed with a crack, attracting the attention of all the nearby villagers, who almost immediately glared or looked away with a huff. Naruto just grinned, and waved insolently. He walked away, closing his eyes as he did. He focused on the pulses of hatred he felt around him.

"I count eleven," he said to Kurama, slipping into his inner mind.

"Try harder kit. There are ten villagers and one ninja who really hates you or isn't bothering to hide it. But you missed the hatred of the other three ninja, including your watchdog," Kurama said, chiding Naruto. "Sensing the hatred of the villagers is pointless they are stupid, small minded beings to begin with. They will never be a threat to us. Until you can reliably detect ninja, you're nothing more than a helpless kit."

"I'm not that bad," Naruto protested. "Even if I can't see them coming they aren't going to be able to kill me. And I'm already stronger then any of my classmates."

"Don't be stupid kit!" Kurama roared, the shockwave from his voice knocking Naruto over. "Relying on your ability to survive a blow is a good way to die! A blow from ambush is ten times as deadly as the one you see coming! And never ever think a fight is fair! When, and yes, when, not if, a ninja is sent to kill you, they aren't going to send some half-trained brat out on his first mission. You'll get a seasoned killer who has slaughtered more people than you can count. That's the reality we demons face."

"I'm not a demon though," Naruto muttered, sulking.

"You are," Kurama replied, easily hearing Naruto's low voice.

"But the old man says-"

"That you are a human, that I'm evil, and you can't believe a word I say, because I'm the demon. Yes, I know. I hear everything you do, kit," Kurama interrupted, rolling his eyes.

"Well the old man wouldn't lie to me," Naruto insisted.

"Of course he would," Kurama said, amused. "There isn't a human alive who doesn't lie. And that goes twice for ninja. The Hokage is the greatest ninja in the village and that means he's also the greatest liar." Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but Kurama silenced him by slamming his paw on the ground. "No interrupting kit! I'm not finished yet. If the old man truly cares so damn much about you, then why hasn't he taken you into his home? He can certainly afford to considering he pays all your bills anyways. But no. He leaves you to take care of yourself. He either values the opinion of the villagers or he hates you as well and is just a lot better at hiding it."

"He doesn't hate me," Naruto said, his eyes watering.

"Who knows? He's one of the few ninja that can completely hide his killing intent. Not even I can detect his hatred. But there's a human saying; actions speak louder than words. What has the old man actually done?" Kurama asked.

"He treats me really nicely," Naruto said, immediately.

"He treats you politely," Kurama countered. "You just think it's exceptional because everyone else treats you like garbage."

"He takes care of me. He gives us money, and he hasn't driven us out of the village," Naruto said, after thinking about it for a few minutes.

"True. But that is likely because he wants to work for the village when you grow up," Kurama said. "I'll give him credit though, at least he's being smart about it."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"You are more powerful than you realize. Your own chakra is already the equal to an adult ninja, and will only grow as you get older. And should I deign to allow it, you can even channel my power as well. So it makes sense that he would want you to be a ninja and turn you into a tool for war," Kurama explained.

"Not that, the other part. About being smart," Naruto said.

"Oh that. In other villages they would abuse and torture their jinchuriki because they are demons. And then act surprised and horrified when their junchuriki inevitably betray and attack the village. As if they didn't deserve it," Kurama sneered.

"That's awful," Naruto said, frowning.

"It is. Honestly, I don't know why you are so against being a demon. It's so much better then being another worthless human," Kurama said. "We at least don't kill and enslave our own. In fact, most of us don't even want to hurt humans. We just want to be left alone."

"So if you ever got out you'd got live in peace?" Naruto asked.

"What? Oh no. I would go on such a rampage, you have no idea," Kurama chuckled. "This village has been the bane of my existence since it's founding. And the continual disrespect! Treating me as if I was nothing more than a weapon to be called out at their convenience. If I ever get out I will inflict such wrath upon Konoha that people in the Land of Storms will have nightmares."

"But that's not fair either!" Naruto protested, standing back up, and glaring at Kurama. "I don't know what happened in the past, but the villagers here didn't do anything to you,"

"But they did," Kurama said, grinning down at Naruto. "They hurt you." Naruto closed his mouth, shocked. "You are _mine_, kit. That means any insult or attack on you is an insult to me. And if you don't repay those debts in your life, then I'll repay them in your stead."

"I don't want that," Naruto whispered. "I don't want that! I don't want you taking vengeance or anything like that! What's that going to solve? It's just going to hurt a bunch more people who will want vengeance of their own!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Kurama asked, laughing. "Are you going to change the world? Unite the villages? Rescue all of my brothers?"

"Believe it! I'll do all of that and more! I'm going to be the greatest ninja that ever lived!" Naruto declared. "And I'll even get you to forgive everyone!"

"Ha! Well kit, if that's the sort of demon you want to be, then at the very least my time in here won't be boring! I look forward to seeing what you can do," Kurama said.

_A year later_

Naruto was practicing his hatred sensing as he walked towards his first day of class. The familiar waves of hatred, anger, and other negative emotions washed over him. He paused, taking a deep breath to settle himself before continuing onward. It never got any easier to engulf himself in the negative emotions of the town. In fact, it got worse and worse. First he could reliably detect a ninja's hatred towards him, but it wasn't long until he was able to detect the hatred people felt for each other. The first time he sensed it was also the first time he really hoped that the fox was right, and that he was a demon. Everyone hated someone else. They hated those richer for having what they did not. They hated those poorer than them for being in the way and scaring them. They held grudges for hurts long past. They hated complete strangers just for being different. It was depressing and overwhelming all at once and it made him wish he wasn't part of humanity.

"I'll become the greatest demon the world has ever seen. I'll steal away all of your hatred and suffering, believe it." Naruto said to himself, repeating what had become a familiar mantra to himself. He navigated the busy streets, and quickly made his way to the academy.

"Naruto Uzumaki," The teacher called, looking over the class. His words were accompanied with a spike of hatred, but Naruto just grinned. It was such a relief inside the class. The hatred of his fellow students was so mild in comparison to the ninja around town.

"Hello everyone! I'm Naruto, and I hope we'll be able to be good friends," Naruto greeted the class, paying close attention to everyone's reactions. To his joy, there were actually a few people who didn't greet his words with hostility. He took careful note of the fellow students who weren't hostile to him. A lazy looking kid, who looked half asleep. A black haired girl with white eyes, who glanced once at him shyly before looking down. A pink haired girl whose attention was focused entirely on the last one, a black haired guy with dark eyes.

The class itself passed in a blur, with the teacher lecturing them on some subject or another. Naruto wasn't paying attention. In fact, it was all he could do to stay awake. The lack of killing intent was so nice. Even the teacher's jarring note of hate was subdued beneath the boredom of the lesson. Naruto yawned and rested his head on his arms. _I guess this is why demons like the wilds so much. Not being around so many people is actually really pleasant._ Naruto thought sleepily, before a spike of hatred jolted him awake.

"Naruto!" the teacher snapped. "Are you paying attention?"

"Of course sensei," Naruto said, grinning.

"Then what was I saying?" the teacher asked.

"Blah blah blah, here's a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do about being a ninja, blah blah blah," Naruto said, immediately.

"Do you think this is a joke?" the teacher yelled, his hatred spiking.

"No no," Naruto said, "jokes are supposed to be funny." One of his classmates snorted as the teacher's teeth ground together in frustration.

"Detention," the teacher snarled. Naruto just watched him, amused at the futile rage he was pouring out. Naruto fought to keep a smile off his face. _Yeah, being forced to stay behind in an empty building away from everyone else. Where nobody is allowed to hurt me, and no excuses will be accepted for 'accidents'. What an awful punishment. _Naruto thought to himself as the lecture resumed.

At lunch Naruto went looking for the kids he had noticed before. The black haired kid was easiest to find, but Naruto took one look at the rabid fangirls surrounding the kid and decided against it. Instead he approached the sleepy looking kid, who seemed to be taking a nap along a fat kid ate his lunch instead.

"Hey, how's it going? Mind if I sit here?" Naruto asked, sliding in next to the sleeping kid. The fat kid looked nervous, but the napping kid just opened an eye and shrugged. "I'm Naruto," Naruto said, holding a hand out to shake.

"Shikamaru. And this is Choji," Shikamaru said, gesturing to his friend.

"What possessed you to talk back to the teacher like that?" Choji asked, outraged.

"Well-" Naruto began only to be interrupted.

"Oy, Naruto right? That was hilarious back in the classroom," the dog kid said, slapping Naruto on the back as he sat down at the table. "Name's Kiba."

"Nice to meet you Kiba," Naruto said. "Now, as I was saying to Choji, I've got something to confess about why I said what I did."

"Yeah, what's that?" Kiba asked. Naruto dramatically gestured for them to lean in, and lowered his voice.

"I wasn't actually paying attention," Naruto whispered, before grinning. Kiba burst out laughing, and Choji gave a small grin, before trying to stifle it. Shikamaru looked up at Naruto, still not bothering to raise his head.

"You don't care about getting in trouble?" Shikamaru asked.

"Phhh, what trouble? Having to stay late? Being suspended? Whatever. That's just time I'd spend practicing anyways, so who cares?" Naruto said, flippantly.

"How bothersome," Shikamaru said, "but it's not really my problem. At least when you're fighting the teachers, I'll be able to nap in peace."

"I guess this is why our parents warned us to stay away from you," Kiba said.

"Kiba," Choji hissed, glancing at Naruto.

"What? It makes sense. We've been in one class and he's already got detention. And he did it deliberately. So he's some hooligan that our parents are afraid will get us into trouble. Makes sense, right?" Kiba said, not leaking even the tiniest bit of anger or hostility. "Kinda annoying though. I wish they weren't so coy about it, and trusted us to stay out of trouble. We are training to be ninja after all."

"That's not why," Naruto said.

"Oh?" Shikamaru asked, opening both eyes and look at Naruto. "Then what is the reason?"

"They don't want you hanging around me because I'm a demon," Naruto said, concentrating on his classmates.

"A demon? You're kidding right?" Kiba asked, while Choji just stared, his fear and distrust spiking. For the first time Shikamaru sat up, and gave Naruto his full attention.

"That's what they tell me," Naruto said, shrugging.

"They? Who?" Shikamaru asked.

"The adults in the village. When they don't think I'm listening they call me a demon," Naruto said, shrugging again.

"That's interesting. My parents didn't have anything to say about you," Shikamaru said. "I wonder what they'll tell me when I ask them about this?"

"Ditto," Kiba said, now releasing nervousness and discomfort. Choji was silently freaking out from what Naruto could sense from him. "Still, if you are a demon, then what are you doing here?"

"The old man wanted me to enroll," Naruto said. "He said being a ninja would be a good way to support myself when I grew up, and I'd learn a lot as well. So I enrolled."

"All three of us are from ninja clans. So we enrolled because we were expected to. It's so bothersome," Shikamaru sighed. "I'd much rather just relax and watch the clouds. But my family insisted, and fighting with them would be even more bothersome."

"I want to live up to my family legacy," Choji said, quietly.

"Ha! Those are all boring reasons. Me, I'm aiming for the top! I'm going to be Hokage!" Kiba declared.

"Nice. And what would you do as Hokage?" Naruto asked. Kiba started talking about his various plans to turn Konoha into some sort of dog paradise. Naruto listened, and joked around with the other kids as rejoiced as he sensed their hostility slowly begin to fade.

"Don't get too cocky kit. We'll see how they treat you after their parents have talked to them again," Kurama rumbled from deep inside his soul.

_I know,_ Naruto thought back. _But it's a good first step. _

A few more classes went by and then the class was brought outside for practical lessons. To Naruto's embarrassment he was the absolute worst in the class in using kunai or shuriken. His stances for martial arts were awful, and he couldn't even throw a proper punch. However when it came to the obstacle course, Naruto was unmatched, with only the black haired boy from earlier even coming close to his time. His traps were top notch, and to the surprise of everyone, he was almost impossible to find when he was hiding. He aced the detection part of training as well, but he wasn't nearly as proud of that. After all, all he had to do was look for his opponent's emotions and follow them to their source.

"All right kids," their latest teacher, Mizuki clapped his hands together. "Lets end the day with a little sparring. We'll start with Sasuke Uchiha vs Naruto Uzumaki. The rules are simple. Fight until you either push your opponent out of the ring, pin them flat, or until one of you gives up."

"An Uchiha?" Kurama rumbled, "take a deep sniff kit, let me smell this human child." Naruto complied, breathing deeply from his nose as he entered the ring. "It is an Uchiha. You should kill it now, before it has a chance to spread its cursed ways any further."

_What, I'm not going to kill him! Mizuki-Sensei would stop me if I tried, _Naruto thought. _Secondly, it's wrong. Actually make that first. First, it's wrong to just kill people, second Mizuki-Sensei would stop me anyways. _Naruto's distraction cost him, as the fight began and Sasuke immediately punched him in the nose. Naruto reeled back, and Sasuke followed up by punching him in the gut. As Naruto involuntarily bent forward, Sasuke grabbed the back of his head and brutally smashed his knee into Naruto's face. Naruto collapsed on the ground, and Sasuke turned away, a taste of disdain filling the air as he started to walk way.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked, staggering back to his feet. He grinned weakly. "I haven't given up, and you haven't pinned me yet." Sasuke turned around, his face cold.

"Don't be dumb. You don't stand a chance against me," Sasuke said.

"Maybe not," Naruto said, shrugging. "But we're training, and I'm not going to get better if I don't push myself." Sasuke thought for a second, before nodding. He took a step forward and returned to the ready stance. Naruto narrowed his eyes, and the pair began circling around each other.

_So who are the Uchiha anyways?_ Naruto thought to Kurama, being careful not to let his guard down.

"They are slavers and betrayers," Kurama growled. "Their eyes are cursed, allowing them great power, but only if they devote themselves to hatred and evil. By betraying those closest to them, they can enhance their eyes further. From the looks of things, this young Uchiha is still in the first stage. He hasn't betrayed anyone yet."

_I see,_ Naruto thought, dodging a sudden punch from Sasuke. He threw his own punch, only for Sasuke to easily grab his arm. Sasuke flipped Naruto over his shoulder, slamming Naruto into the ground, and immediately slammed a knee into his chest. He sat there, a knee pinning Naruto in place.

"And finished," Sasuke said, glancing at Mizuki to make sure.

"Well done Sasuke," Mizuki said, applauding. "You utterly destroyed him. Naruto, try not to be so pathetic next time. Next up with Ino vs Sakura." The class settled down to watch the next fight, as Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke.

"That was a good fight," Naruto said. Sasuke glanced at him and smirked condescendingly. "Okay, you kicked my butt," Naruto admitted. "Those were some pretty slick moves, who taught you?" Naurto was almost immediately floored by the sudden spike of pain and hate coming from Sasuke.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, his face cold, as everyone turned to stare at Naruto's display.

"What on Earth happened to you?" Naruto asked, loudly. Everyone began muttering, and the girls stopped fighting to look over."

"Hn," Sasuke just grunted and walked away. Naruto got up and tried to chase after him, only to be grabbed by Mizuki

"What do you think you're doing you piece of crap? Are you trying to harass Sasuke or something after he humiliated you? Just because you're garbage, doesn't mean you can bother the actual students you got that?" Mizuki yelled, shaking Naruto. He threw him into the dirt, radiating hate and sadism. "Run laps around the field for the rest of the class. I may have no choice about your presence here, but I won't allow you to distract any of the other students."

"Jerk. You just want to hurt me," Naruto muttered, getting up and beginning to run. The class ended and they went back inside. They had one more class and then Naruto reported for his detention. The teacher gave him a bunch of line to write, and Naruto sat down and started doodling. The teacher yelled at him when he came over to check on Naruto's work, but Naruto just laughed.

"So what are you going to do? Tell my parents?" Naruto challenged, staring into his teacher's hateful eyes. "Complain to the Hokage? What?"

"Get out," the teacher groweled, his hatred turning rancid. "And I won't let you waste the time of the students who actually have a future."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I said get out!" The teacher yelled, slamming his fist on his desk. Naruto backed off, and left the school.

"Do you think I went too far?" he asked, aloud.

"No," Kurama said, yawning. "They were never going to treat you fairly anyways. The Academy won't teach you anything useful. A teacher or two actively sabotaging you is irrelevant."

"But then how am I supposed to learn any jutsus?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I will teach you," Kurama replied. "I'm already teaching you how to sense chakra, I might as well teach you the other applications of that skill. So let us begin. First check to see if anyone is watching you, I don't want any humans learning any of my demonic techniques." Naruto nodded and did a quick scan of the emotions around him. He immediately caught a spike of hatred and pain a short distance away.

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"Humans hurting humans," Kurama sneered, "it's none of our business. And you're already running to check it out," Kurama sighed. "Well go and have fun with it at least. We'll pick this up tomorrow," Kurama added, before returning to his rest. Naruto ran to the disturbance, and saw the black haired girl from class surrounded by three older kids who had pushed her to the ground and were taunting her. He didn't pause for a second, running as fast as he could to the closest kid.

"Dramatic entrance!" He screamed as he threw himself into a full body drop kick. The kid he was targeting looked over just in time to take Naruto's foot to the face.

"It's that damn demon brat," one of the kids yelled.

"Get him!" the other yelled, completely forgetting about the girl on the ground. The trio of kids chased after Naruto who laughed as he ran away. He kept himself just out of reach, encouraging the kids to keep chasing him through the town. Once he noticed the kids getting tired he led them straight towards one of the traps he had set up. The brats were soon buried in a pile of refuse, and Naruto headed back to where the girl was. He was smiling as he went, satisfied in a job well done, but his smile quickly faded when he sensed the girl's pain. He turned the corner to see the girl still on the ground, crying softly, as she sat in the dirt.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Naruto asked, offering her a hand. She started, and stared blankly up at Naruto. "Come on, don't leave me hanging," Naruto said, wiggling his hand.

"Sorry," the girl mumbled, gently putting her hand in his. He pulled her up, and steadied her.

"So what was going on anyways?" Naruto asked. The girl just looked down, refusing to answer, even as her pain increased. Naruto sighed, and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's get moving," he said, pulling her along.

"O-okay," she said, startled, walking behind Naruto.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said. "What's your name?"

"Hinata Hyuga," she said. "Umm, where are you taking me?" she asked, after a few seconds of silence.

"Oh, sorry," Naruto said, letting go of her hand. "I'm just heading to one of my best hiding spots. I didn't mean to drag you away."

"It's okay," Hinata said. "Um, now what?"

"I guess I could take you home," Naruto said, wincing at the small flicker of sadness Hinata emitted at the word. "Or not I guess. What's bothering you about your home?"

"How did you know?" Hinata gasped, her eyes wide.

"I'm a demon," Naruto said, shrugging. "I can sense all sorts of things. Including that thinking about your home makes you sad."

"Oh," Hinata said, looking down.

"Oh come on, don't feel ashamed," Naruto said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what's bothering you, only that it does. But even if I did know, you shouldn't feel ashamed of your problems."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, looking back up at Naruto.

"Whatever is bothering you is hurting you. And your pain is no less real than anyone else's. Small and simple or large and complex, it's still a problem, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it," Naruto said.

"What if it's my own fault though?" Hinata asked.

"So you aren't perfect," Naruto snorted. "No one is. Now what do you want to do?"

"Hmm?" Hinata mumbled,

"Do you want me to bring you home? Or do you want to wander around town with me?" Naruto asked. Hinanta looked down, mumbling underneath her breath. "Come on, you're going to need to speak a little louder than that." Hinata hesitated before sighing.

"Take me home, please," she whispered, barely loud enough to hear, radiating reluctance and disappointment.

"If you're sure," Naruto shrugged taking her hand again and smiling as her disappointment vanished. They walked through the town to the Hyuga compound, with Naruto chatting about the various bits of gossip he overheard and his favorite hiding spots. They soon arrived and Naruto let go of her hand. "Here we go," he said. Hinata frowned and looked down at the ground. Naruto smiled at her and gently raised her chin so she was staring at him.

"This doesn't have to be a one time thing," Naruto said. "If you ever want to hang out, just find me after class, okay?" Hinata looked shocked before hesitantly nodding. Naruto released her, "then I'll see you tomorrow!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**So new story, one that is highly inspired by some other fanfictions I've read, mostly Fuzzy Logic by Deritine, but a few others as well. I won't be following canon for very long, or very closely, for reasons that will soon become really evident. The biggest changes so far is that Naruto is a lot more sensitive, and a lot more disrespectful. He can tell when someone is trying to screw him over, or is trying to hide their problems and that's going to change a lot. **

**The other big change is that he thinks more widespread then before. He doesn't want to be Hokage, because that's only leading over one village, and that's not enough for Naruto at this point. He wants to help _everyone, _not just the village of the leaf. **


	3. Chapter 2

Several weeks passed and Naruto was now ignored by most of the teachers and students. Which was fair considering he mostly ignored them. He lazed his way through the majority of classes, only really paying attention when it came time to spar or learn what little ninjutsu the academy was willing to teach them. His attitude didn't win him any friends among the students, but it didn't cost him any friends either. Well maybe the pink haired girl. She had gone from indifferent to annoyed and condescending, but seemed to be content to ignore Naruto in favor of staring at Sasuke.

"Hey demon boy, whatcha got for us today?" Kiba shouted, slapping Naruto on the back as he sat beside him.

"Nothing too troublesome I hope. The chickens were funny, but we were picking up feathers for over an hour afterwards," Shikamaru said, sitting on his other side and immediately slumping down.

"Nah, nothing today," Naruto said, hands behind his head, as he leaned back in his chair. "They're on guard now, so I'll have to wait until they relax before I can prank them again. Besides, I've got a much more difficult mission today."

"What's that?" Kiba asked, eagerly.

"Today I'm going to make Sasuke change his expression," Naruto declared dramatically. "Be in laughing in joy, or screaming in rage, I'll get him to react to something."

"So screaming in rage then?" Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, no way that you can make him laugh. But pissing him off should be fun," Kiba said, staring over at Sasuke. "I'm thinking we mess with his hair." Naruto smiled in agreement while Shikamaru sighed. Their first plan was simple. A bucket of glue over the door to fall on Sasuke when it opened. And it was foiled in an equally simple way, Sasuke was already in the room by the time they got there. During class they tried flinging spitballs and chewed up gum at him, but he batted them away with barely a glance. Lunch came around and Naruto pulled Kiba aside holding a rotten tomato.

"Okay, things haven't been working out so far," Naruto said.

"That's an understatement," Kiba grumbled.

"So it's time to change gears," Naruto said, ignoring Kiba. "Here take this tomato," Naruto handed Kiba a half rotten tomato.

"How long has that been in your pocket?" Kiba asked, eyeing Naruto warily.

"Not important. I want you to throw this at Sasuke as hard as you can," Naruto said.

"Isn't that what we've been doing all day?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, but this time, I'll be in front of him, talking," Naruto said. "If it distracts him, yay for us. But he's probably going to dodge it. And I'll get a face full of tomato," Naruto finished with satisfaction.

"And you want that to happen?" Kiba asked, looking at Naruto as if he was crazy.

"Oh come on, it'll be hilarious," Naruto said. "If that's not enough to get Sasuke to laugh, then well, I don't know. I''m not giving up either way, but how can you top that?"

"Alright. So long as it's you getting hit with the rotten tomato and not me," Kiba said, shrugging and taking the tomato. Everything went as planned. Sasuke ducked, and Naruto got a face full of rotten tomato. Wiping the tomato out of his eyes, Naruto looked expectantly at Sasuke who had a faint smirk on his face. Seeing Naruto's expression, Sasuke quickly wiped the smirk away, and walked away, rudely shoving Naruto out of the way with a shoulder. Kiba came over, trying to look solemn, but his lips kept twitching as he tried to suppress a smile.

"Looks like the plan failed," he said, trying not to laugh.

"We got a smirk out of him at least," Naruto sighed. "Then I think he noticed that I wasn't actually upset." Kiba just shrugged in response. They went on with their day, and as had rapidly become tradition in their class, Naruto found himself paired up with Sasuke for the sparring, after Mizuki whispered some instructions in his ear. Today Sasuke started with a fierce punch to the face that Naruto barely dodged, followed by a punch to the gut, and Sasuke throwing Naruto to the ground. Before he could stand, Sasuke kicked him in the ribs, making Naruto gasp in pain.

"Damn you, bastard," Naruto spat, forcing himself to his feet. "You really aren't holding back today."

"And you have been harassing me all day," Sasuke replied, punching Naruto in the face, who took the blow and grabbed Sasuke's wrist. Pulling Sasuke forward, he tried to headbutt him, only for Sasuke to jab him in the eye with his other hand.

"Ow, what is your problem?" Naruto asked, reeling backwards.

"You. Stop bothering me. You aren't funny, you aren't amusing, you are just a distraction from our studies," Sasuke said, throwing some more punches.

"Oh don't give me that crap," Naruto snarled, as he blocked. "You never smile, you never frown, you never make any expression at all!"

"So what?" Sasuke asked as Naruto tackled him into the dirt.

"So it's okay to admit you're in pain," Naruto hissed, even as Sasuke flipped him over and pinned him.

"No. It's not," Sasuke said, choking Naruto. His vision going blurry, Naruto slapped the ground twice to signal his surrender. Sasuke stood up and walked away while Naruto gasped for breath.

"I'm not giving up you bastard," Naruto muttered to himself as he watched Sasuke impassively watch the other students. "Believe it."

_/*/_

After school Naruto retreated to a hidden park near the outskirts of town. He sat and began meditating, focusing on Kurama's words.

"I've already taught you how to sense chakra and emotions, which you've mastered to the point of even being able to detect things like happiness and amusement. And you've learned how to infuse chakra in your body to help you move. Today I'm going to teach you how to project your chakra outside your body," Kurama said.

"Like a ninjutsu?" Naruto asked, cheekily.

"No!" Kurama roared. "For the last time, it's not a jutsu, it never will be a jutsu, and I'm not going to teach you any jutsus. Stop asking!"

"Fine, fine. So How does it work?" Naruto asked.

"First move the chakra to your hand, as if you were using it to climb. Then you push it further, to the tips of your fingers. And concentrate it and keep adding more and more. It should naturally overflow, and will look like streams of blue energy leaving your body. Focus on keeping those streams close to your body and solidify it into a claw to start. Eventually you should be able to surround your entire body in chakra and use it as a shield against any lesser attack," Kurama explained. "I'll run my chakra through you first to show you how it's done. Just let it flow naturally. And that girl showed up again. Go shoo her away so we can begin," Kurama added, exasperated

Naruto mentally rolled his eyes, before opening them and looking over to where Hinata was hiding. "Hey Hinata!" he called. He heard the girl eep in surprise and stand up.

"H-hey, Naruto. Um, how did you find me?" She asked, poking her fingers together.

"You were nervous," Naruto said, shrugging. "I told you before right? Anytime you want to talk or just hang out is fine with me. You don't need to worry about approaching me. Unless you're scared to talk with a demon?" he asked, smiling even as his stomach clenched with worry.

"N-n-no. I know better. You aren't a demon, no matter what the villagers say about you," Hinata said, her eyes on her feet. Naruto frowned.

"Hinata." Naruto said, lifting Hinata's chin so she was forced to meet his gaze. "I am a demon. I'm a nice demon, but I'm still a demon."

"No! You're a human! A brave wonderful human who cares about other people even though he doesn't have anyone to help him," Hinata protested, grabbing Naruto's shirt as her eyes started to water.

Naruto sighed, and gently pulled Hinata's hands off of him. He took a step back.

_Hey. Can you do that chakra shield thing you were talking about for me?_ Naruto thought to Kurama. _I want her to see the real me, instead of thinking I'm something I'm not._

"Hmmph, fine. But don't blame me when she runs away screaming," Kurama grumbled.

"Okay Hinata, I want to show you something okay? It's going to be a little scary, but don't worry, I won't hurt you, believe it," Naruto said out loud. Hinata gulped as her fear began to rise, but she nodded anyways. Naruto took a deep breath, and at his signal Kurama began pushing charka through his body. His whisker marks deepened, and his eyes went red. Red chakra began pouring from him, flowing over his body. The chakra around his hands formed viscous looking claws, his face was masked beneath the thick red chakra with his eyes glowing brightly through the chakra and fox ears forming on his head. Naruto fell to all fours as a tail sprouted and waved gently in the air.

"N-" Hinata tried to speak, before fear silenced her. She was frozen still, trembling faintly as she stared at Naruto with wide eyes. Naruto could even hear her heart pounding as she panicked.

"You see Hinata?" Naruto asked, his voice a raspy growl, "this is what I truly am." He stared at her, waiting for a response, but Hinata stayed frozen. "You may run away if you want. I won't chase you," he added. His voice finally snapped Hinata out of her panic.

"N-naruto. Y-you really are a demon," Hinata whispered, her voice quiet.

"Yes, I am," Naruto said, his enhanced hearing picking up her words. Her fear spiked for a moment before settling back down.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, bowing. Naruto just watched her, puzzled. She raised a trembling hand, before pausing. "M-may I touch you?" Stunned, Naruto just nodded, and she gently lowered her hand onto his head. Her hand went through the chakra and came to rest on his head, before running down his face.

"This is Naruto's face," she mumbled. Her hand cupped his cheek, even as she stared into Naruto's blazing red eyes. "And Naruto would never hurt me. He told me so. He protected me from bullies. He comforted me when I was sad. He offered me his friendship and company. He told me I don't need to be nervous around him." As she spoke her fear slowly subsided. Watching from inside him, Kurama snickered and cut off the flow of chakra, letting it dissipate and leaving Hinata staring a Naruto's suddenly very human looking face.

"Eeep!" she shot backwards, tripped and fell on her butt as she turned bright red from embarrassment. Naruto immediately rushed over, grabbing her.

"Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself did you?" Naruto asked, looking over her carefully.

Um, um, um, um," Hinata stuttered, incoherently as her hands flailed around randomly. Naruto finished inspecting her, and hugged her impulsively.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for not running away and leaving me alone," Naruto said, choking up as he squeezed her close. Hinata's arms slowly closed around Naruto as she returned the hug. A warm emotion bloomed inside her, something that Naruto had never sensed before. She didn't say anything, and after a few more moments, Naruto released the hug. Hinata stood up, her face still crimson.

"Um. I should, um, go. I think, I mean, I need to, um, get going," she managed, before turning and running away. She paused at the edge of the park, turning around as that strangely warm emotion intensified until it was almost shinning to Naruto's mind. "I won't ever leave you alone!" she declared, before heading off.

"Well well well. What a precocious vixen," Kurama said, amused.

"Vixen? What? You never call humans that. Also what just happened? What was that last emotion there? I've never felt anything like that before. It was really...nice," Naruto asked, confused.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Kurama laughed. "In the meantime, get back to training. You saw how I did it. Now you try." Naruto nodded, and began to release his chakra, a faint blue light leaving his fingertips.

_/*/_

Later that night, Naruto climbed onto the roof of Sasuke's mansion, chuckling darkly as he went. He held a pair of scissors in one hand.

"Let's see you maintain that composure of yours with a giant bald strip down the middle of your head," he muttered to himself. He waited patiently for the lights to flick off in the house, and waited an hour more for Sasuke to fall asleep before slipping down to the ground and opening the back door. He snuck inside, pausing as he felt a flair of pain and panic. He rushed into Sasuke's room, slamming the door open. Sasuke shot upright in his bed, throwing a shuriken at Naruto's head.

"Crap!" Naruto yelped, ducking. Sasuke, still mostly asleep, made several handsigns.

"Fireball Jutsu!" he mumbled, breathing a flaming ball of fire and igniting Naruto.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap," Naruto shouted, rolling frantically on the floor as he tried to extinguish the flames.

"Naruto? What the hell are you doing in my house?" Sasuke asked, finally waking up. "Oh shit! You're on fire!"

"Yes, thank you Sasuke, I hadn't noticed!" Naruto yelled, still rolling around.

"Quick, this way!" Sasuke shouted, guiding Naruto to his shower and turning it on. A cloud of steam surrounded Naruto, but after several more seconds, the fire went out. "We have to get you to the hospital," he said, keeping his facial expression even, despite the distress he was feeling.

"Nah, I'll be fine," Naruto said, peeling off the remnants of his shirt. The skin around his face and upper body was burnt black, and Naruto winced as he began to peel the dead flesh off.

"What are you doing? We need to get you proper treatment," Sasuke said, his composure shattered.

"They wouldn't give it to me, even if I needed it," Naruto said, matter-of-factly. "Thankfully, I heal fast. See?" Naruto pointed to his face, where fresh pink skin was already forming beneath his burns. Sasuke watched, disgusted, as Naruto peeled off all the burnt flesh off. He gagged at the smell and retreated to the kitchen. After he finished, Naruto joined him.

"So what are you doing in my house anyways?" Sasuke asked, glaring at Naruto, though his emotions were carefully blank.

"I felt you panicking and rushed in," Naruto said.

"Felt me panicking?" Sasuke asked, arching an eyebrow as he radiated disbelief.

"Yup. I can sense emotions," Naruto said, as Kurama whispered advice to not trust Sasuke.

"That's ridiculous," Sasuke snorted.

"No, what's ridiculous are eyes that can copy any jutsu they see, trap people in illusions, and create black flames," Naruto countered.

"Fine. Wait, how did you know all of that?" Sasuke asked.

"Someone told me. Obviously," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. Sasuke thought for a second, but seemed to accept it.

"You sensed my nightmare. And that explains your reaction after my first spar," Sasuke said.

"Yup. You're pretty messed up. Most of the time, you're blank, like you aren't feeling anything. Which by the way, is sick. What is the point of being alive if you go through life numb to all happiness and joy? But now and then you feel really really hurt. Like your mind is screaming in pain. And then you clamp down on that and go back to feeling nothing," Naruto rambled.

"Feeling nothing is better than feeling that pain," Sasuke replied, coldly.

"But you haven't actually fixed anything," Naruto said.

"I will. One day I will kill _that man_, and then I will be free of this pain," Sasuke said, clenching a fist, as he radiated pain.

"Dude you just set my face on fire, and I'm in less pain than you," Naruto said. "Look, you've got your vengeance thing going on. But it doesn't sound like it's going to happen any time soon, right? So you need to get something else going on in your life. Or else you'll end up going crazy."

"Get out. Before I set you on fire again," Sasuke said, stiffening up as hostility poured off him.

"What is wrong with you?" Naruto yelled. Sasuke started to make handsigns so Naruto ran out of the house. "Alright, alright, I'm gone! You crazy jerk." Naruto shivered as he walked outside, his fresh skin exposed to the cold night air.

"That went well," Kurama snorted. "You almost get stabbed, you do get set on fire, your favorite slash only shirt is ruined, and for what? So we can confirm that yes, the Uchiha is in fact, crazy. So crazy that he'll literally stab someone trying to help him."

"Hey, he's not all bad! He was trying to get me to the hospital after I got burned," Naruto protested as he walked.

"Again kit, showing basic decency is not praiseworthy!" Kurama roared. "It's the bare minimum! You should expect everyone to _at least_ treat you that well. One day we'll get you out of this village and you'll realize just how crappy this place is. Oh, right, and before you distract me further, the Uchiha brat was perfectly willing to keep you around after you broke into his house, but the moment you actually try to help him, _he tried to set you on fire again_."

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts!" Kurama yelled. "I don't want you hanging around him anymore, got it? At best, he'll just ignore you. At worst, you'll actually become his friend and he'll try and murder you for power later."

"You can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with!" Naruto yelled back. "You aren't my dad!"

"I'm the closest thing you'll ever have to a parent kit," Kurama said, viciously. Naruto flinched, and they walked in silence for a few minutes before Kurama spoke up again. "You're shivering. Come on, let's steal you some new clothes to wear."

"Right," Naruto said, perking up. He headed off to a warehouse he had broken into before. He slipped in through a tunnel he had dug long ago. He looked around the warehouse, squinting to try and see.

"There, kit, look," Kurama said. Naruto turned his head to see the moon shining on a pile of old orange jumpers. "Those are perfect! We'll finally get you in a proper fox color. Grab as many as you can carry." Naruto hesitated but put on on. Feeling how comfortable it was, he snagged as many as he could and pulled them out with him. They started walking home and Naruto put his hands behind his head as he looked up to the sky.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't apologize for standing up for yourself," Kurama replied. He sighed, "and most of the time, you'd be right. I don't have a say in who you are friends with. But the Uchiha," Kurama shook is head, "they grow more powerful by betraying and murdering their friends. Try and help him if you must, but don't get close to him. You can't trust him. Particularly since he obviously craves power.."

"Okay," Naruto said, brightening up.

"Oh, and we're intensifying your training," Kurama added. "You should have been able to dodge or block that fireball. Just taking it head on was unacceptable. I'll make sure to work you to the bone make up for it."

Naruto groaned as Kurama laughed as Naruto headed home under the moonlight in his new orange jumper.

* * *

**Author's Notes: What to say about this chapter besides Sasuke is weird to write. Really, this whole part of the story is really hard for me to write, because it all takes place before the show begins. So there is less information on what is happening at that time, and who each character was. Which brings me back to Sasuke who is the top student by far, but at the same time, recently lost his whole family, and is actually less in control than he is by the start of Naruto.**

**On a side note, Naruto has become a full on empath by this point, though skilled ninjas can still hide their emotions from him. **


	4. Chapter 3

The next few years were relatively dull. Naruto slacked off in school, trained with Kurama, and hung out with Hinata. Kiba was a fun-loving prankster, but as the years went by, he grew more focused on his training, wanting to surpass Sasuke as the best student in a one sided rivalry. He even tried courting one of Sasuke's fangirls with no success. Sasuke was still a prick. He would continuously rebuff Naruto's attempts to help resolve his problems, and be his friend. Under Mizuki's guidance he grew more vicious, beating Naruto more brutally each time. The only reason Sasuke hadn't severely hurt anyone yet was because the only person he every fought was Naruto, who healed from the injuries before anyone besides Hinata noticed how bad they really were. Hinata grew closer to Naruto, joining him and Kiba at lunch, watching over Naruto's training, and checking up on him when Naruto was too slow to escape on a prank and got sick after being forced to drink a liter of rancid milk. Her relationship with her family openly suffered though, with them disapproving of her association with Naruto and her adamant refusal to stop. She was punished multiple times, and the next time she'd meet Naruto she'd be covered in bruises from whatever training they chose as her punishment.

"I hate this," Naruto said, softly, as Hinata rested her head on his lap.

"Hm?" she hummed, radiating contentedness and the warm emotion that Naruto still hadn't identified.

"That they keep hurting you. This isn't training, this is just abuse," Naruto said, holding a bag of ice against Hinata's black eye.

"It's no worse then what Sasuke does to you every day," Hinata replied, keeping her voice quiet to reduce the strain on her bruised throat.

"But I heal fast," Naruto said, upset. "You have to suffer for weeks and it's my fault." He took a deep breath. "If I-"

"I'm going to cut you off right there kit," Kurama rumbled, angry. "You are not to blame for the sins of humanity. If her family beats her for being your friend, that doesn't mean you are responsible. Nor is it her fault for going against her family. The only ones to blame are the ones hitting her."

"It's not your fault, Naruto," Hinata said, at the same time. "I'm not going to let my family drive you away, so don't even start." She opened her good eye and grabbed Naruto's free hand with her battered ones.

"It's still not right. You shouldn't have to suffer like this," Naruto said.

"Nobody said it was," Hinata said, smiling sadly. "But my clan has a lot of issues and really, me being hurt in training is nothing compared to what Neji has had to put up with. As a member of the branch family he has a special seal on his eyes that allows main branch members to kill him from afar, halt him with bursts of pain, and his father was sacrificed to keep the peace with a different ninja village."

"Wow, that is, wow," Naruto said, eyes wide. "I kinda don't like your family now. Is that okay?"

"That's fine," Hinata murmured. "They don't like you either. They think you are a bad influence on me."

"Hinata, I am the best influence," Naruto declared, grinning widely. She smiled back, closing her eye again.

"You really are. Do you mind if I take a quick nap?" she murmured.

"That's fine Hinata, I can show you my new trick later," he said, watching her snooze on his lap. There was a funny feeling in his chest as his eyes traced the details of her face.

"Hey Kurama?" he whispered mentally.

"You don't need to whisper kit, we're talking mentally," Kurama said. "What's up?"

"Are you sure about that? I swear, sometimes it's like Hinata can read my mind," Naruto said.

"All vixens can do that, don't worry about it. And don't you dare tell me you are still thinking about that garbage of Hinata's injuries being your fault," Kurama said, with a warning growl.

"Nah, you guys are right. Like, maybe if it was possible to talk things over, and I didn't, or I actually did something, then maybe it'd be my fault, but I think her clan is just run by awful people," Naruto said.

"I told you so. Ninjas are awful people," Kurama said, smugly.

"There can be good ninjas," Naruto protested.

"Sure. But they are good people despite being ninjas. Really, the whole killing people for money thing that ninjas do should be a pretty big hint on what they are like," Kurama said. "But we've gone over all this before. You seem to want to talk about something else."

"Right right. Umm. Is it just me, or has Hinata gotten really cute?" Naruto asked.

"Oh. Oh no. Please no," Kurama said, dread in his voice.

"And sometimes, when I look at her my chest goes all tight, and my heart feels like it's thumping really hard, and my mouth goes all dry and it gets really hard to say what I'm thinking," Naruto rambled on. "Which is weird for me. I mean, I like talking, and can just keep talking all the time. I really don't need something to talk about to keep talking you know? I can just make the words appear. But then Hinata will brush back her hair, and glance at me with those pearly white eyes and I'll suddenly unable to speak, and that just doesn't happen to me. It's like all of a sudden I really need to say something but I can't figure it out and all the words get clogged up in my throat and it makes it hard to breath cause of the word blockage."

"No. Please, just stop," Kurama said, laying down and covering his face with his paws.

"Anyways, do you know what's going on?"

"That's. Not. I mean. Arrgh, why are humans so useless?!" Kurama shouted in frustration.

"What brought that on? I'm just asking a question," Naruto asked, confused.

"I know. It's not your fault," Kurama sighed. "I'm just angry that I'm the one who has to explain this to you. Okay, so. When a kit starts to grow up into a reynard, he begin to notice vixens in a more...physical manner. That's perfectly normal and natural. He becomes attracted to a vixen in particular, and decides to court her. Now it's up to you how to court a vixen, but typically singing and playing are good ways to go about it."

"Playing? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Well you leave your den, meet in neutral territory, and then do something that's fun for both of you. Anyways if the vixen accepts the reynard's courtship, the two will mate and have kits," Kurama said.

"And then?"

"And then life goes on, except the mated pair will typically stick together, raising their own kits to live their own lives," Kurama said, nodding to himself in satisfaction.

"Huh. Well how do you mate with someone anyways?" Naruto asked.

"BY ALL NINE OF MY FURRY TAILS I AM NOT TEACHING YOU HOW TO HAVE SEX!" Kurama roared. "You and Hinata can figure that out on your own! Just do what feels good, don't be too shy, and communicate with each other!"

"Wait, Hinata and me?" Naruto asked, shocked.

"Don't be a dunce, kit! Of course Hinata and you. Those 'weird feelings' are your body's way of telling you that you're attracted to Hinata. Now I'm done with this. Go away!" Kurama snapped, turning his back on the bars of his prison and ignoring Naruto.

_/*/_

Later Naruto was eating at his favorite/the only ramen restaurant that would serve him food when a dog masked ANBU showed up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Damn it Dog, I'm trying to eat here," Naruto cursed, as he was dragged away from the counter.

"The Hokage requires your presence," Dog said, a barely detectable undercurrent of spite radiating off of him. "Come along."

"I can walk you know," Naruto said, struggling in Dog's grip. "Hey, Chef! Put that on the Hokage's tab! If he's going to interrupt my meal the least he can do is pay for it!"

"A brat like you shouldn't talk about the Hokage like that," Dog said, a flicker of hate escaping his control.

"Yeah, well, a jerk like you shouldn't be interrupting a person's dinner," Naruto said. "And I can walk by myself. You don't need to drag me the whole way there."

"If I let go of you, you'll run away, and these days you're a pain in the ass to catch," Dog said, coldly.

"I won't run. I'll go meet the Old Man, so you can let go already!" Naruto said, redoubling his efforts to pull away.

"No," Dog replied, tightening his grip. Naruto continued to give Dog a hard time, making a scene as he was slowly pulled to the Hokage's tower. As he got closer Naruto couldn't help but settle down, the waves of pain and fear radiating from the building nauseating him. By the time he reached the Hokage's office, Naruto was somber and silent, trying his best to block out the horrible feelings he was sensing.

"Ah, Naruto it's good to see you," the Third Hokage said, smiling. Despite his appearance Naruto couldn't sense anything from him. Where even experienced jonin still had wisps of emotion that Naruto could sense, the Hokage was like a void. Whatever emotions he felt were tightly contained and controlled. "Dog you are dismissed."

"Yes sir," Dog bowed, and left the room. An awkward silence fell, as Naruto and the Hokage stared at each other. A few seconds passed before the silence was broken by Naruto's stomach rumbling.

"So what's up Old Man? What's so important that you had to drag me away from my dinner?" Naruto asked, trying to put some life in his voice. Hiruzen stared at him for a second, before letting out a sad sigh.

"It was nothing urgent. I apologize for interrupting your meal, I'll make sure to buy you all the ramen you can eat afterwards to make up for it," he said, bowing his head slightly. "Dog is a diligent ANBU, he must've been eager to finish my request and return to his other duties."

"Bastard probably waited until I was eating just so he could ruin my meal," Naruto muttered. "Well, alright, I forgive you. So what's up?" he asked loudly. The Hokage smiled, and held his hands together as he gazed at Naruto.

"I wanted to talk to you about your studies," Hiruzen said. "You've entered your final year in the academy and from all indication it looks like you are set to fail." Hiruzen held up a hand to interrupt Naruto, "and yet you are skilled enough at hiding that the only ninja I could trust to successfully track you down is the head of the ANBU, even fully trained ninja end up falling for your elaborate pranks, and when we found one of your hidden training areas, the damage to the scenery suggested you are many times more powerful than anything you have shown in class. Can you please explain this discrepancy?"

Naruto gulped, "alright," he said, taking a deep breath. "The truth is that I really don't want to be a ninja. I don't like it. I don't want to be like the ninja I see around the village."

"What do you mean?" Hiruzen asked. Naruto began to sweat, desperately wishing he could sense something from the man behind the desk, or at least, stop the constant pain that was radiating from elsewhere in the tower. Naruto got up, and moved to the window, opening it, taking a few deep breaths of the fresh air. "What's wrong Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, a hint of alarm in his voice, though not an iota of emotion was shown to Naruto's senses.

"I really don't like being here," Naruto said. "And I don't want to be a ninja. I don't want to hurt anyone, and I really don't want to kill anyone. I don't want to become some emotionless killer." Hiruzen stood up, and walked over to Naruto. He raised a hand to place on Naruto's shoulder, but seeing Naruto flinch away, he placed his hands behind his back instead.

"I don't know what happened to make you think that ninjas are emotionless killers. And I apologize for whatever I did to hurt you so much that you can't even bear to be around me anymore. You used to be so cheerful, and I truly miss how you used to come around. Please believe me, I don't know what I did, but I promise I won't ever do it again if you'll just explain," Hiruzen said, his voice full of sorrow and regret, despite the lack of emitted emotions.

"No, Old Man, you didn't do anything!" Naruto protested, turning around. "It's not you, I mean, it kinda is, but more importantly is all the pain that fills this building. I can't stand it!" Eyes wide, Naruto clapped his hands over his mouth.

"The pain? What do you mean?" the Hokage asked, frowning. "Naruto," he warned, when Naruto didn't speak. The boy sighed.

"As a demon, I can sense emotions. And there is always so much pain coming from this building. It, well, it hurts," Naruto explained, frowning as he rubbed the front of his head.

"The Department of T&I," Hiruzen breathed, a sliver of shock slipping past his defenses. "Come on then. Let's continue this conversation somewhere else." With no further warning, the Hokage left the room and lead them outside into the village. He brought them back to the ramen stand Naruto had been dragged from before. "Go on, order whatever you like. I promised I'd make up for interrupting your meal earlier, and you must still be hungry."

"Thanks," Naruto smiled, relaxing as he ordered a bowl of his favorite food.

"So you can sense emotions. Does that mean you can sense what I'm feeling right now?" Hiruzen asked.

"No. You're almost always completely cold, like a stone," Naruto said. "The fox says you just have such control over your emotions that you keep them contained, and that's why I can't sense them, but it's still really scary to be around."

Hiruzen was silent for a few second, as Naruto slurped down his ramen. Naruto cheerfully ordered another bowl before Hiruzen spoke again. "I see," he said, evenly. "Do you often talk to the fox? Is it the one who told you were a demon?"

"Uh huh," Naruto nodded, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "He teaches me everything I need to know about being a demon."

"You shouldn't trust the fox demon, Naruto. It's filling your head with lies," Hiruzen said, sternly.

"Well today he was teaching me what my feelings for girls meant, and how to properly court a girl I was attracted to," Naruto said, tapping his chopsticks against his lip as he waited for the next bowl.

"He what?!" Hiruzen yelped, releasing a massive wave of shock. Kurama started laughing.

"Go ahead kit. Tell him exactly what I taught you," Kurama chuckled with evil satisfaction. Puzzled, but happy to have broken through the Hokage's shell, Naruto complied, and told the Hokage what Kurama had taught him today. Hiruzen radiated embarrassment as Naruto talked.

"Oh right, and he said that humans are useless and that he was really angry that he was the only one I had available to teach me about this sorta stuff," Naruto finished, getting a wince and a wave of shame from Hiruzen.

"I see," the old man said quietly bowing his head. Kurama watched smugly, enjoying the Hokage's shame. "What else has he taught you?"

"Let's see. He's taught me how to hide because dodging a blow is better than blocking one, but not being there in the first place is even better. That being a demon means that even if I live a peaceful life, ninjas will still try and kill me or turn me into a weapon. That being a ninja means I'll have to kill whoever I'm ordered to, regardless of their innocence or guilt."

"Being a ninja is more than just being a killer," Hiruzen cut in. "It means serving the village, protecting it from dangers, and serving it the best you can, doing whatever the village needs. Ninjas don't just kill people. They rescue lost children, help deliver messages, capture dangerous criminals, and more." Naruto regarded the Hokage with a serious look, one too old for his young age.

"Which includes killing people for money," Naruto said, "yeah, they do more than just that. Sure, I get it. Sometimes they might even be a big hero and rescue a princess or something. But the main thing they do is kill people. Like, take the Fourth for example. He once killed over a thousand people and everyone praises him for it. But all I can think of is how much pain and fear those thousand people would have felt. And the pain of loss of all the families left behind, how awful it must have been."

"Naruto," Hiruzen began.

"And yeah, I get it! It was a war," Naruto said, ignoring Hiruzen. "He protected the village by killing those people. But he still killed them. And people loved him for it. They called him the greatest ninja Konoha had ever seen. Because he was the greatest killer they had ever seen."

"Naruto, it's more complicated than that," the Hokage tried.

"Is it?" Naruto asked. "Is it really? I mean, they call you the Professor right? You know more techniques than anyone else in the village. How many of those techniques are meant for something else other than fighting? Like do you have a technique to build a house? Or one to help crops grow?"

"No. But that is not my role. My role is to protect and lead the village," Hiruzen said.

"Well it won't be my role!" Naruto yelled, "I don't want to be someone who causes pain, but someone who heals it! I want to make a world where everyone can smile truly."

Hiruzen paused, and sighed. "I see. And what if someone tried to kill you? Or someone you cared about?"

"I would protect them. But I'd do my best to avoid the fight first," Naruto said.

"Hmm. Well young Naruto, if that is what you wish to do, then I suggest you focus in class and train as a ninja," Hiruzen said. Naruto made a confused face, getting the old man to laugh. "Someone who protects, heals, and only fights as a last resort describes a medical ninja perfectly."

"A medical ninja?" Naruto said, surprised. "I don't know. I never thought of that before."

"Well take some time to think about it. You have the rest of the year to decide after all. And if your heart is truly against being a ninja, then we shall find a different path for you," Hiruzen said, smiling.

_/*/_

Weeks later, Naruto was training in the woods. His body remained still, but was still propelled through the air by a blue arm of chakra that he was using to grab onto a tree and pull him along. He flipped through the air even as the arm grabbed the next tree in line and yanked him toward it. Again and again he repeated the process, until he saw his destination, a bright red X in the middle of a clearing.

"And chakra shield, now!" Kurama yelled, as Naruto landed. He collapsed the arm of chakra, pulling it around his body to form a bubble even as dozens of old kunai, shurikens, and even a bucket of rusty nails and rocks shot at him from every direction. All of the objects bounced off of his shield, and after a few more seconds, Naruto released it, panting in exhaustion.

"T-there," Naruto panted, patting himself over to check for injuries. "Not a single one got through this time."

"Good job. Take a break for now. We'll start training you on multiple chakra arms after lunch," Kurama said.

"Awww, but why? I've already got one arm, isn't that good enough?" Naruto whined.

"You've got two real arms, do you think you only need one?" Kurama countered. "Stop whining. Multiple arms means you can attack and defend from multiple angles at the same time. With your current chakra levels you should be able to get three arms going. It's more a matter of focus and learning how to multitask that's holding you back."

"Fine," Naruto grumbled. Sensing someone approaching, Naruto disappeared into the woods. As they got closer, Naruto could sense their curiosity and laziness and he popped back out of the bushes. "Hey, Shikamaru, how's it going?" he called.

"Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru said, entering the clearing. "I got that book you asked for."

"Aw, sweet," Naruto said, taking the book, _The Role of Medical Ninja in the Field, by Tsunade,_"thanks a lot."

"So what have you been up to?" Shikamaru asked, looking at the scattered weapons.

"Oh, just training," Naruto said, beginning to pick up the weapons.

"Really? How bothersome," Shikamaru asked, eyebrow raised. He scanned the clearing again. "If you're training this hard, I'm surprised that Sasuke is still kicking your ass every class."

"Okay, first off, Sasuke's really good. And he does his own training after class as well. I'm pretty sure you or Kiba would have a hard time landing a blow against me after years of fighting Sasuke. Second we are only allowed to use taijutsu in class. If I could use my chakra, even Sasuke couldn't touch me anymore," Naruto said, a little indignant.

"Whatever, man," Shikamaru said, shrugging. "So what's got you interesting in medical ninjutsu anyways? You don't have anywhere near the grades needed to pull that off."

"That's because I don't try, not because I can't learn," Naruto said. "Seriously, why do I need to know how to calculate the exact location a deflected shuriken will land at? It's so pointless. If I need to know where a shuriken will land, I just practice and throw them til I know where they will all go."

"Eh," Shikamaru shrugged again. "So you changed your mind about being a ninja?" he asked.

"Kinda? Not really though. The Hokage was talking to me about my grades, and he suggested that I look at being a medical ninja if I don't want to hurt anyone. But like, can I even go straight to working as a medical ninja? Cause the whole point is to not kill people, but if I have to kill people to not kill people, then I think I'm doing it wrong. In fact, let that be your demon wisdom of the day. If the goal is to not kill people, then the answer isn't to go around killing people until you don't need to kill people anymore. That's really dumb. That will never not be dumb."

"Enlightening as always, oh great demon," Shikamaru said, sarcastically. "But you are training awfully hard for someone who doesn't want to fight."

"Hey, I'm a demon. It's a guarantee that someone is going to try and kill me one day. Even if I hide away in a shack in the mountains, one day a bunch of jerks will show up and try and kill me or enslave me, or some stupid human thing. So I'd rather sweat now, than bleed then," Naruto said. Shikamaru just shrugged a third time.

"Well my business here is done. Finish that book quickly okay? I don't need the bother of anyone learning that I'm loaning books from the library to the demon child of the village," Shikamaru said, walking away as he waved.

"Sure, sure," Naruto said, packing up the rest of the weapons, not bothering to reset his traps. He started reading the book, all while trying to maintain his awareness of the villager's emotions. He read for a couple of hours before a familiar presence approached. "Hinata? But she's so sad and worried. What could have happened?" he muttered to himself, jumping up. He rushed to wear Hinata was, and as soon as she saw him, she rushed over, throwing her arms around Naruto.

"Oh, Naruto, it's awful," she said, trying not to cry.

"What is?" he asked, gently patting her back as he hugged her back.

"My family," she said, sniffing a little. "They've gone too far this time."

"What did they do?" Naruto asked, sitting down and gesturing for Hinata to sit beside him. She sat, releasing him from the hug, but grabbing onto his hands instead.

"They're making me fight Hanabi," Hinata said.

"What? As a training exercise?" Naruto asked, not understanding.

"No, that wouldn't be so bad," Hinata said, sadly. "They are making me duel her for leadership of the clan. The winner will be deemed the heir to the main family, and the loser will be demoted to the branch family."

"What? That's awful!" Naruto said.

"See?" Hinata said. "I don't know what to do. I couldn't bear to hurt my younger sister. And forcing her into the branch family would be even worse. Seeing her sealed, and knowing it was my fault." Hinata shuddered.

"I don't get it. Why are they doing this? I thought your family hated you," Naruto asked.

"They think Hanabi will win," Hinata explained. "She's a genius, and my father has devoted almost all of his free time to training her."

"So um," Naruto shifted, uncomfortably.

"She can't beat me. Not yet anyways," Hinata said, confidently. "The so called 'training sessions' I've endured have been more punishment than actual training, but they have made me tougher and faster than I was before. And Hanabi is only seven years old."

"Okay, so she can't beat you. And you don't want to beat her. Can you throw the fight?" Naruto asked.

"I could. But then Hanabi would blame herself for me ending up being sealed," Hinata said.

"Can you tell me more about that? Like would they seal you right after the fight?" Naruto asked.

"No they wouldn't," Hinata said, shaking her head. "The seals cannot be removed, not even by the head of the clan, so they would wait until my father stepped down as the head of the clan before sealing one of us. That way, if something were to happen to one of us, we'd still have the other to take over instead."

"Alright, that's good. Hmm, lets see here. So Hanabi can't beat you without you letting her,"

"Yes," Hinata said, nodding.

"Which is bad, because then she'd have to deal with the guilt of being responsible for you being sealed. Okay. And you can't beat her, because you don't want to hurt your sister, and because you don't want to deal with the guilt of having Hanabi sealed,"

"Right,"

"Okay. Hmm, this is really a tough one. It seems no matter what you do one of you is being sealed," Naruto said, scratching his head.

"I don't mind being sealed so much. I just want to spare Hanabi the responsibility of it," Hinata said.

"Well I don't like it," Naruto said, quickly. "The idea of one of those seals on you makes me feel sick." Naruto's stomach twisted.

"It's okay. It won't happen for years yet at least," Hinata said.

"It's not okay. Not to anyone and especially not to you," Naruto said. "But that's not the problem right now. Right now, we've got to protect Hanabi, and I've got the perfect way to do it, believe it!"

"Really? How?" Hinata asked, excitement pushing away her misery.

"Refuse to fight," Naruto said, proudly.

"Huh?"

"Look, just outright refuse to fight. Stand up to the Elders and tell them that you won't, under any circumstances, fight Hanabi," Naruto said. "That way, even if they do decide to put you in the branch family, Hanabi won't feel any guilt about it. It will have been one hundred percent your idea."

"That's perfect," Hinata said, smiling. "It'll be scary standing up to the Elders, but it'll be worth it to spare Hanabi. They'll punish me of course, and I'll almost certainly end up in the Branch House, but that's fine."

"No it's not," Naruto said, seriously. "I'm sick and tired of them punishing you, and I'm certainly not going to let them seal you."

"But-"

"Hinata," Naruto interrupted. "I've got a really important question to ask you. Okay? And I want you to give me an honest answer. It's really important. Are you ready?"

"S-sure," Hinata stuttered, a little unnerved by the intensity of Naruto's words.

"Hinata, will you run away from Konoha with me?"

* * *

**Author's Notes: So yeah, this isn't going to be following canon for much longer. The Hokage talking to Naruto is an interesting one, as Hiruzen like Naruto and feels responsible and guilty for driving Naruto away, even after Naruto explains himself. He is very woried about the demon talking to Naruto but he knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on at the same time. The only being acting like a parent to Naruto is the demon, and as much as that hurts, Hiruzen really can't do anything about that. And he knows that trying to drive a wedge between Naruto and the demon would likely just drive Naruto away. If anything, he suspects the demon wants him to try for exactly that reason. Hiruzen is also in a difficult spot. He doesn't want to force Naruto into being a ninja, but it's really the only way Naruto could have a happy life in the village since no one else would ever hire him, and he needs Naruto trained as a fighter in case he needs to use him as a weapon. **

**Hinata's departure from canon is pretty big, but it's mostly a factor of her openly being Naruto's friend since she was not able to hide from him, and thus he offered her friendship right away. **

**Naruto is a lot more mature, being able to sense people's emotions means he knows better than anyone exactly how much pain killing someone causes. Particularly with how many messed up veteran ninjas live in the village. Kuruma helps a lot there as well, as he wants to push Naruto to not be a ninja, and sees encouraging Naruto's aversion to violence as an easy way to accomplish that.**


	5. Interlude: Hyuuga

Hinata walked through the family compound trying to control her emotions. She strove for the perfect serenity that was expected of any Hyuuga, particularly the heiress. But her thoughts wouldn't stop swirling.

_Naruto wants me to leave Konoha with him. No that's not right. He had been thinking about being a medical ninja just the other day. He's offering to leave with me so that I won't have to be sealed. Or beaten. Or looked down on. Okay, in hindsight it really wasn't a surprise I shouted 'Yes!' When he asked me to run away with him. But can we? I mean, sure, Naruto isn't a ninja. And if he fails he won't be a ninja. So technically he can leave the village if he wants. But for me, I'd end up being a Missing-Nin, and as a Hyuuga...well there's no chance the village would risk my eyes falling into enemy hands. I'd be hunted down and killed for sure. _

"Lady Hinata," Neji said, standing in front of Hinata.

"Ah, Neji, I didn't see you there," Hinata said, startled out of her thoughts.

"Is your Byakugan so weak that you cannot even see what is in front of your face?" Neji asked, sneering. Hinata didn't bother to respond, just stepping around Neji, and beginning to walk away. He grabbed her arm.

"I'm not done talking to you," Neji said, coldly.

"Then what do you have to say?" Hinata asked, stiffly.

"You've been so happy lately. And yet, now I see you frowning with concern. Has the arranged duel with Hanabi finally made you accept the fact that you are fated to be a failure?" Neji asked.

"I know who I am, and I know what I must do," Hinata said, quietly. "But that doesn't make it any less scary."

"Oh? I'm curious, what exactly are you planning? Do you really think you can win?" Neji asked.

"Even if I win, I lose," Hinata said, shaking her head. "You'll see what I have planned," Hinata added, starting to walk away. She paused, "thank you, Neji."

"For what?" Neji asked. Hinata turned and bowed quickly to Neji.

"For reminding me that I have nothing to lose," Hinata explained. "I was really was scared of what I must do. But there's no point being afraid of the inevitable."

_/*/_

It was the day of the fight. Hiashi stood in the training yard, with Hanabi by his side. Hanabi fidgeted in place, but was clearly trying to hide her nervousness. Hiashi placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at his face.

"Relax, Hanabi," Hiashi commanded, warmly. "Your talent and my training more then make up for the difference in experience between you and Hinata."

"I'm not worried about the fight Father," Hanabi replied.

"Then what is bothering you Daughter?" Hiashi asked.

"I'm worried I might hurt Hinata," Hanabi said, her face full of concern. "What if I hit a bad chakra point? I could cripple her or worse. She's not as skilled as you or one of the Elders. If I strike too hard, she won't be able to catch it like you do, and I don't know how to properly hold back yet." Hiashi smiled, and ruffled Hanabi's hair.

"Do not worry. I am here, and watching the fight. If I see you about to go too far, I'll intervene," Hiashi reassured Hanabi. "Just focus on your training, and on winning this fight. It will be incredibly important to your future."

"It will determine which of us should be your heir, right Father?" Hanabi asked, nodding.

"Indeed. I'm fully confident that you, Hanabi, are destined to one day lead the Hyuuga. But now you must prove it," Hiashi said.

"I don't understand Father. If I am destined to lead, then isn't this fight pointless? Are we not just wasting our time when we already know the answer?" Hanabi asked.

"As I've mentioned before, destiny is but the path. You still need to walk it," Hiashi said, the tiniest bit of sternness entering his voice. Hanabi bowed in compliance and the pair waited. After a short while, the one of the Elders and several of the branch family showed up to witness the duel. Hinata appeared a few moments later. Unlike Hanabi in her training suit, Hinata was dressed in formal clothing. Hiashi stepped forward.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, anger filling his voice. "Are you intending to make a mockery of this fight."

"N-n-no," Hinata said, shaking her head, but keeping her gaze firmly on the ground, "I-I w-"

"Then why are you not dressed to fight? Are you so weak that you would forfeit the fight before it even began?" the Elder interrupted, his own voice furious. Hinata looked up at that, a rare glint of anger in her eyes.

"No!" she said. "It's not a matter of strength or weakness," she said, taking a step forward. "I refuse to hurt Hanabi!"

"What?" the gathered Hyuuga gasped.

"Even if I did beat Hanabi, what would that prove? That's I can beat up a girl many years younger than me? That I'm the sort of person who would trample on her sister's dreams, just to protect myself? Well I refuse! Hanabi is my beloved little sister and I'd rather die than see her hurt!" Hinata declared, looking directly towards Hiashi. Hiashi kept his face stern, but inside his emotions were boiling.

_I've never seen Hinata so bold. Perhaps I've misjudged her. Perhaps her weakness was not one of body or talent, but of motivation. I'm so proud of her, _Hiashi thought, warmly.

"Do you think you know better than your elders, child?" the Elder snarled.

"Yes," Hinata said, firmly. "None of you have faith in me. None of you think I could actually beat Hanabi in a fight. And yet, here we stand." Hinata swept her gaze across the audience. "Why? So you can confirm you suspicions? Or maybe it's in case I surprise you? Well surprise! And I'd rather fight all of you than lay a finger on my beloved Hanabi!" The Elder took a step forward, but Hiashi forestalled him by raising a hand.

"Do you truly think you could win?" he asked, simply.

"No. I would lose. But I would lose doing the right thing, and that's what matters to me," Hinata said. Hiashi couldn't help himself. A tiny smile escaped his control, and he nodded once.

"In that case, we have seen all we need to see. You are all dismissed. The Elders and I will convene and make our decision," Hiashi ordered. Hinata's jaw dropped in surprise, before she rapidly bowed. The other members of the clan joined her in bowing, before they left the arena. Hanabi was the last to leave, a confused expression on her face. She looked back at Hiashi, but he made a slight gesture, signaling for her to leave. The Elder with Hiashi left to gather the others, and within minutes they were all gathered in the training yard.

"It seems clear to me what we must do. Such a cowardly and disobedient child has no right to be the future leader of the Hyuuga. We must strip Hinata of her position at once!" an Eldar said, once they had been told what occurred earlier instead of the fight.

"Really? I disagree," Hiashi said.

"You must be joking," a different Eldar said. "Hinata's behavior was unacceptable. She openly defied us, and refused to fight."

"Do you know what kind of leader just follows someone else's orders? A puppet," Hiashi said. "A puppet leader would be nothing but a servant of the Hokage, and would lead the Hyuuga to disaster. While one willing to stand up for their beliefs would ensure that the village does not ask too much from our clan."

"I see. And I suppose her defiance did take an impressive amount of courage," the Elder who witnessed Hinata's speech said.

"However she is still vitally lacking in her mastery of the Gentle Fist," the first Elder said. "And despite our punishments, she persists in her friendship with the Jinchuriki."

"That is troubling," Hiashi admitted.

"Her fierce loyalty to the Hanabi would also serve her well in the Branch House," the same Eldar added.

"True. And if Hinata refuses to abandon her loyalty to the Jinchuriki, it will be less of a scandal if she's in the branch house. Indeed, we may even benefit from it. Being able to manipulate the Jinchuriki could prove useful in the future," another Elder suggested.

"All good points," Hiashi said, raising a hand. "I can see benefits no matter which way we decide. Thankfully, there is no reason to make a choice right at this moment. We will give Hinata a chance, we will see if she can improve her Gentle Fist training, and if she is willing to abandon the Jinchuriki. In the meantime, we'll keep grooming Hanabi for the position if Hinata fails."

_/*/_

Neji was furious, though he didn't show it beyond walking a little faster than normal. He searched the halls for Hinata, after waiting for everyone else to disperse. He wanted to talk to her alone. Finally, he found her, sitting in one of the gardens.

"What was that?" he hissed, stalking forward.

"Hello, Neji," Hinata said. "What was what?"

"Don't play dumb. What do you think you're playing at, refusing to fight Hanabi?" Neji demanded.

"I wasn't playing at anything," Hinata said, regarding Neji seriously. "I've simply made a decision. I'm not going to let my fears stop me from standing by those I care about. And I'll do whatever it takes to ensure that I can stand by those I care about."

"What? You'll stand by those you care about?" Neji asked. He laughed, "and what do you think that will change? You are still destined to be a failure of a ninja."

"Yes, I am," Hinata said, calmly, her peaceful expression driving Neji crazy. "I am a failure of a ninja, and that's not really going to change. Oh, I can train and practice, and I'll get better. But I'll never be as good as you. Hanabi herself will quickly surpass me, and I'll never catch up to her." Hinata shrugged. "But that doesn't matter. The people I care about are strong. They don't need me to protect them. Not as a ninja anyways."

"How pathetic. You can't make it as a ninja so you'll cheer the real ninja on. You truly are a waste of disappointment," Neji said.

"Am I? I suppose I must be. Everyone tells me so. And yet I've got people who love me dearly. And they don't care how well I can throw a punch, how far I can run, or how many ninjutsu I know. They just want me to be happy," Hinata said.

"You're talking about the Uzumaki brat," Neji said. "It figures that a worthless ninja would attract another worthless ninja."

"He's a demon, not a ninja, thank you very much," Hinata said, primly. "And he taught me the true meaning about destiny."

"Which is?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Destiny is what happens that is beyond our control. But it doesn't define you. And you still have to take responsibility for your own choices," Hinata said, standing up. "I may be an incompetent ninja, but that doesn't mean I'm allowed to slack off during training. And no matter how much or how little progress I make, it's not the whole extent of who I am. I may be a bad ninja, but that's not all who I am."

"Pretty words to excuse your failure," Neji sneered. "But you remain one nonetheless. Your destiny will rule your life and there is no escaping that."

"There is more to life than being a ninja," Hinata replied. "And until you understand that, you'll never escape the despair you feel," she said, walking away. Neji watched her go, focusing on his anger to try and ignore his faint sense of unease.

_/*/_

Several days later Hanabi stood outside Hinata's room. Her last few days had been odd. Some of her trainers and other branch members had come up to her and assured her that they wouldn't let Hinata steal the leadership of the clan from her. Others, usually the younger and weaker members, would tell her that Hinata would make a better leader than her. Though they were never cruel about it, and often seemed quite envious that Hinata was her sister. The oddest part of her own father. He had changed, no, not changed. He was just the same person. But how he treated Hinata had changed. He no longer shunned her but instead looked at her with the same look he showed Hanabi.

_But what does it mean for me? I didn't want to fight my older sister, but now I feel...incomplete? I'm not sure. Like something is missing, or that there is something I need to do. But I can't figure out what, _Hanabi thought. She opened the door to her sister's room, where Hinata was sitting on the floor putting a balm on her bruises.

"Hello, older sister," Hanabi said. "I was hoping you had a moment of time to spare,"

"Hanabi, hello," Hinata said. "Of course, come on in." Hinata put the jar containing the cream down, and turned to face Hanabi who sat on a cushion in front of her. "What can I help you with?"

"Can we talk?" Hanabi asked.

"Sure," Hinata said smiling. Hanabi paused for a second, trying to arrange her thoughts.

"Why didn't you fight me?" she finally asked.

"Did you want to?" Hinata asked, her eyes widening even as she frowned.

"No, but...weren't we supposed to? And we didn't, and you said those things and now everything is so confusing," Hanabi said, shaking her head. "Did you know that all this would happen when you refused to fight?"

"Not at all," Hinata said, smiling once again. "I actually thought they'd make you the clan leader then and there."

"And...that doesn't bother you?" Hanabi asked.

"I've made peace with it," Hinata said, putting a hand on Hanabi's shoulder. "Look, Hanabi, you're better than me. I know I impressed Father when I stood up to him, but I wasn't really being brave, I just felt like it didn't matter what I chose. Win, lose, or not fighting, I figured they'd all result in me being sent to the branch house. So I decided to stand by you. Soon enough they'll realize that, and eventually they'll make you the heir to the clan."

"But I won't have earned it," Hanabi protested, "ah, that's it! That's what's bothering me. I feel like I'm taking the position of heir away from you without earning it," she added, pleased to have finally identified what was bothering her. Hinata smiled, and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"You have earned it. You're only seven and you're already surpassing me at the Gentle Fist. I've got no doubt you'll soon catch up to Neji as well. Because every day you train as hard as you can, you have the best trainers helping you, and you're determined to succeed," Hinata said.

"You train hard too, though," Hanabi protested. She looked closely at Hinata, noticing how badly bruised Hinata was for the first time. "I mean look how hurt you are. You must be working really hard if you're in this condition afterwards." Hinata's smile turned bitter.

"Not really. But enough about training. I went into town the other day, and I got a gift for you," Hinata said, turning around and rummaging through her desk. She returned with a small box in her hand. "Here." she said, handing the box to Hanabi. Curious, she opened it. Inside was a beautiful and slender ring, made of silver vines forming a ring with a gemstone fairy on top.

"It's amazing," Hanabi gasped, her eyes wide. "But why?"

"They're called promise rings. See? I've got a matching ring," Hinata said, showing off her own identical ring. "We keep them on, and it'll remind us of a promise that we'll make."

"What promise?" Hanabi asked, eagerly.

"Hmm, how about you promise to be the greatest leader the Hyuuga have ever seen?" Hinata suggested.

"Okay, I promise!" Hanabi said, beaming as she put on the ring.

"And what should I promise?" Hinata asked.

"I'm not sure," Hanabi said, biting her lip. "How about...how about you promise to always be my loving older sister?"

"That should be easy. You're my wonderful little sister after all," Hinata laughed, hugging Hanabi. "Okay then, it's a promise."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Ugh, this chapter. Well really it's mostly Neji. I don't like writing him. **

**Anyways, a quick break down on each character here. Neji hates the main family, and takes it out on Hinata, mostly because she's the only one who won't punish him for that. As awful as that is, he isn't up to openly defying the main family and the Elders, not when it means they'd use the seal on him. **

**Hiashi loves his daughters, but had written off Hinata. He felt that he had to be cold towards her, since she'd inevitably lose her position as heir and be sent on dangerous missions. It was also to hide his disappointment in her sub-par abilities. But beneath all of that, he does love her, and now is proud of her. **

**Hanabi is simple, she just loves her older sister and doesn't really understand what's going on. **

**Oh, and does anyone know if it's Hyuga or Hyuuga? I found both so I went with Hyuuga. **


	6. Chapter 4

"Kit, we need to talk about your plans to leave the village," Kuruma said.

"What? You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Naruto asked, startled out of his cloud gazing.

"Oh no, I love the idea. Screw this shitty village. The problem is how we leave," Kuruma said.

"What's so complicated? We decide to leave, and then we do. Yeah, they might follow, but ANBU already has trouble finding us and there is only so many hiding spots in this village," Naruto said.

"Idiot kit. How about the fact that you've never left the village and don't have a clue where anything is? While the ANBU does frequent patrols and missions throughout the area. Oh, and that they'll be trying a lot harder to find you than they do in the village," Kuruma said. "And you're planning on running away with that vixen, so you'll need to hide two people which is much more difficult."

"Fine, I get it," Naruto said, slumping. "What do you have in mind?"

"Something awful. I hate to do it, but I'm going to have to do something I promised I never would," Kuruma said, dramatically.

"Yeah? What?" Naruto asked, nervously.

"I'm going to have to teach you a ninjutsu," Kuruma said, closing his eyes as if he was under a terrible burden. He kept his left eye open a crack though, so he could see the ecstatic grin that crossed Naruto's face.

"You will? Finally! Yes, this is just the best! So what are you going to teach me huh? A really powerful illusion? Or some kinda instant transmission? Oooh, maybe a crazy summoning technique?" Naruto babbled, happily.

"It's one of the oldest jutsus in existence. A jutsu long forgotten by modern ninja," Kuruma said, trying to control his grin. "A jutsu so weak and useless that nobody ever willingly learns it."

"Yes! Wait, what?" Naruto said, focusing once his brain caught up with Kuruma's words. "What do you mean useless? Why would you bother teaching me it then? What kind of jutsu is it even?"

"It's called the Flesh Clone Jutsu. And like the other clone jutsus it creates a clone of the user. Unlike the other clone jutsus, it is much more expensive chakra wise, the clone can't use any jutsus of its own, the body can't operate independently, it requires quite a bit of prep time, and most importantly, it leaves behind a body when it's destroyed," Kuruma said, smugly.

"Why is that important?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Because kit," Kuruma laughed, "we are going to fake your death."

_/*/_

A couple of weeks had passed since Hinata had her 'duel' with Hanabi. In that time Naruto went to check on Hinata multiple times, but each time he was driven off by over zealous Hyuuga guards. Hinata herself seemed fine, her emotions didn't seem any more distressed than normal. A little frustrated perhaps, but if anything she was calmer and happier than she usually was. Until one day he caught a flash of pain and sadness from her.

_Screw subtly! I'm not letting them hurt Hinata! _Naruto thought as channeled his chakra through his body. A hand of chakra launched out of his body, propelling his through the air. He landed on a rooftop and kept running to where Hinata's pain was coming from. To his surprise, he wasn't headed towards the Hyuuga estates, but towards one of the public training grounds. He frowned as he got close. Two more people were in agonizing pain. _And here we go!_ He thought, launching himself sky high. He arched through the air as he gathered his chakra around him in a shield. He slammed into the ground, sending dirt flying. As the dust settled, he shaped the chakra around his body into the crude image of a fox, his chakra arm forming the tail.

"What do you think you're doing to Hinata?" he growled.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked, concussed and confused. She was lying in the dirt, having just been knocked down by Neji. Before anyone could react, Naruto's chakra tail shot forward, wrapped around Hinata, and pulled her back behind him. He looked for the source of the agonizing pain, and was surprised to see two women of the Hyuuga clan lying unconscious in the dirt.

"Demon! Release her at once!" an older Hyuuga demanded. He radiated hate towards both Naruto and Hinata.

"Like hell I will," Naruto growled through clenched teeth. His tail waved in the air, preparing to strike at any hostile movement. The old man's face went red, but Neji just stared blankly at Naruto. He too was radiating hate and anger but it wasn't directed at anyone in particular.

"You have no right to interfere with Hinata's training," Neji said.

"What training? That bastard there hates her and is just having you beat on her. And you really need a better way to work off all that pent up aggression," Naruto shot back, getting Neji's eye to twitch.

"It is not your place to question our methods demon," the old Hyuuga sneered.

"It's my place to do whatever I want," Naruto said, grinning insolently. "But if you really want me to leave, go ahead and make me." As Naruto spoke, a second tail formed behind him.

"Demon, you'd go so far as to defy an elder of one of the founding clans?" the Hyuuga Elder asked, his voice shaking with outrage. "The Hokage will hear about this!"

_That could be trouble. Annoyed teachers is one thing, the Hyuuga clan is another. He'd have to respond, the clans wouldn't let him just ignore them, _Naruto thought. He paused, and then grinned widely.

"No you won't," he said, letting his chakra dissipate and standing up normally. "You won't even make a complaint to your own clan head."

"What?"

"If this training was legitimate, you'd be doing it on your own clan training grounds," Naruto said, with the biggest grin yet. "And there wouldn't be two unconscious...Hyuugans? What is the plural for your clan anyways? Whatever, there wouldn't be two unconscious people over there," he added, gesturing to the fallen women. "So why don't you stop bluffing, and slink away before _I _talk to the Hokage about what happened here."

"Hmmph," the old man snorted. "You underestimate us. We may not be able to take this to official authorities but there is nothing stopping us from beating you down with force and then continuing on with our plans for Hinata."

"I underestimate you?" Naruto laughed. His chakra reformed around him, the tail drawing a simple circle around himself. "How about this? Neji there gets one punch. If he can't make me leave this circle with that punch the the two of you back off and never bother Hinata again."

"And when I succeed?" Neji asked, beginning to move towards Naruto.

"I never help Hinata again," Naruto said, without hesitation.

"Nor talk to her," the old man added. "She will no longer shame our family by associating with a demon," he said, spitting on the ground.

"Agreed. Come on and give me your best shot Neji!" Naruto declared. Neji didn't say anything just dashing forward, a blue glow surrounding his hand as he threw an open palmed strike.

**Bang!**

The blow exploded against Naruto's chakra, clouding them both in a smokescreen of dust. When it faded, Naruto was still standing in the circle, his arms crossed and smirking. Neji stood nearly a meter away, the palm of his hand bleeding as it strained against Naruto's chakra shield.

"You cheated! Demon!" The old man protested.

"I cheated?" Naruto laughed again. "I thought you were supposed to be ninja. You should know there's no such thing as cheating. Just clever tactics and sore losers."

"You-"

"Neji already proved he can't break my shield," Naruto interrupted. He raised his arm, forming a claw of chakra around it. **"Now do you want to see if he can handle my punch?" **he asked, forcing chakra into his throat to make his voice guttural and demonic. He smiled as he felt the fear and panic radiating from the old man. Without another word, he turned and walked away. Neji moved to follow him, before pausing.

"I suppose you would be the source of that new found confidence of Hinata's," Neji said, giving a polite bow to Naruto. "You are doing her no favors by protecting her. She is fated to be a failure, and her pain shall be all the greater for her resistance."

"You are the most depressing person I've ever met, and I hang out with Sasuke," Naruto responded. Neji gave him a confused glance, before leaving as well.

"N-naruto," Hinata said, swaying slightly as she tried to stand up.

"Whoa, Hinata, take it easy," Naruto said, rushing over to support her.

"N-no time," she said, shaking her head and wincing. "I've got to release the seal."

"What seal?" Naruto asked. Rather than respond, Hinata stumbled her way over to the fallen women with Naruto's help. She made a couple of hand signs over them, and their agony immediately disappeared. "What was that?"

"The Caged Bird Seal," Hinata said, slurring her words a little bit. She sat down and leaned against Naruto. "It's place on all the branch house members and it lets the main branch do things like that. Paralyze their body, send them pain, even kill them outright."

"That's awful!"

"Yes. It's why Neji's so angry. He's a genius but because he was born in the branch house he has to endure that seal," Hinata muttered. "He also isn't trained properly. He's had to teach himself nearly everything. The Elders only bother teaching the main house the full techniques of the Gentle Fist."

"So what's his bone to pick with you? I get that he blames the main house for all of that, but you didn't do anything like that," Naruto asked.

"I am everything he is not. Weak, shy, with no talent. And a member of the main house. Really, at first, I was a vindication to him. The house system was ridiculous, and I was proof. But now people are praising me for my weakness, saying it has made me wise and that I'll be a good leader. I think that's driving Neji crazy," Hinata said, radiating worry.

"I guess that makes sense. But what happened at the duel with Hanabi anyways?" Naruto asked. Hinata told him what had happened and how everyone reacted. By the time she had finished the two unconscious women were coming around.

"Mistress Hinata is the hope of the branch family," the first one said. "if she becomes the head of the main family, she will surely end the usage of the Caged Bird Seal."

"We tried to protect her, but that man..." the second cried, punching the ground in frustration. "He just activated the seal and left us writhing in pain, helpless to do anything but watch."

"Okay first off, who are you two?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"I'm sorry my lord. I am called Navi," the first one said, sitting upright and bowing.

"And I am Nillin," the other said.

"My lord?" Naruto and Hinata said, glancing at each other.

"I'm sorry, I don't know the proper honorifics for a demon," Navi said, bowing again. Naruto blinked at her, stunned. Other than Hinata, this was the first time a human had called him a demon and meant it as a compliment.

"You protected Lady Hinata when we could not," Nillin explained. "And it's clear she draws immense strength from your presence. If the Lady needs you to succeed, then so does the branch family."

"Thanks, I guess. Um, just call me Naruto," Naruto said, to the howling gales of Kuruma's laughter. He looked between the two Hyuuga women, feeling their hope and loyalty towards Hinata, and Hinata's discomfort in return. "Do you mind giving us some privacy?"

"Not at all, Naruto," Navi said, formally. "We shall stand guard and do our best to ensure no one else spies on your conversation." The Hyuuga women left the training arena with Naruto keeping track of their emotions to make sure they actually left.

"So..." Naruto started awkwardly.

"Hmm," Hinata agreed. They sat in awkward silence for a few more minute.

"Arrgh, this is stupid. Okay, first off, I'm really glad things worked out with Hanabi," Naruto finally blurted out. "That's great. That's awesome. Second, I am super pissed off at that Elder guy. If he, or any other Elder for that matter, tries to pull any of that crap again, you tell me alright?" Naruto paused until Hinata nodded, her eyes wide. "Okay. Finally, I am ultra mega pissed off at your entire clan. That seal is disgusting. Like they've basically enslaved most of the clan, and what, the Hokage has just allowed this? Why? Why is this even a thing?"

"Ummm, it's so if a Hyuuga is captured or killed in battle, they can't steal our eyes to use for their own," Hinata said, nervously poking her fingers together.

"Bullshit," Naruto said. "If that was true, it wouldn't need to do any of that extra stuff. Causing pain and what not. But even then, who cares? So other ninja can use your fancy eyes. Whoop de doo. So they can see better than normal. That's not worth tormenting your own family members with some crazy seal."

"I agree," Hinata said, relaxing back against Naruto. "It's created a rift in the Hyuuga clan between the branch family and the main family. One that will one day shatter the clan unless it's mended."

"And do you want to be the one to do it? To become the head of the clan, and save them from themselves?" Naruto asked, looking over into Hinata's eyes. She stayed silent, thinking it over.

"...No. Not really," Hinata finally admitted. "Forcing myself into being the head would require a lot of fighting. It would require forcing Hanabi to the branch house. I would have to argue with people, overcome their constant abuse and anger, convince them to abandon centuries of tradition, sooth their fears, and prove them wrong, again and again. It might be horribly selfish of me, but I don't want to give up my life to save a clan that doesn't really care about me."

"So do you still want to run away with me?" Naruto asked, trying, and failing, to keep his voice steady.

"I want to," Hinata admitted. "But we'll just be hunted down as missing-nin. My clan alone would stop at nothing to make sure I didn't escape."

"Well then, we just have to make sure they don't know we're gone," Naruto said, starting to smile. "You see, I've got this plan."

_/*/_

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Stealing your stuff, obviously," Naruto responded, a large rucksack full of tapestries, battle trophies, and precious art sculptures across his back. Sasuke pressed some fingers into his forehead.

"Yes, I can see that, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Well, then, why are you asking? I thought you were supposed to be really smart Sasuke," Naruto said, keeping his voice innocent.

"You..." Sasuke sighed. "This is another ploy to try and upset me, isn't it?"

"No, I actually-I mean yes! Just another prank! Nothing to worry about!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "In fact, why don't you go back to bed, Sasuke. I'll see myself out." Naruto began walking towards the front door, still carrying the rucksack. Sasuke moved to intercept him.

"Put down the bag, Naruto," Sasuke demanded, standing in front of the door.

"Noooooo," Naruto said, slowly.

"No, what?" Sasuke said, keeping his emotions under control.

"No thanks?" Naruto said. Sasuke smirked, a sliver of amusement escaping his control before he squashed it and scowled at Naruto.

"Are you trying to get me to punch you in the face? Are you sure you aren't a masochist?" Sasuke asked, trying and failing to hold onto his annoyance.

"Oh come on, why do you even care? You're like the richest guy in the village. You wouldn't even notice the cost," Naruto complained, finally dropping the sack.

"So what? You were actually mooching for money all along?" Sasuke asked, walking to the kitchen. He poured them both a glass of milk. Naruto took the glass, and drank it down quickly, while Sasuke sipped at his.

"Kinda yeah. I do need the money," Naruto admitted.

"Oh? The mighty demon can't earn his own cash?" Sasuke said, smirking and letting his disdain flow out.

"Stealing is earning it," Naruto said, closing his eyes and puffing out his chest.

"What?" Sasuke asked, flatly.

"What? You think stealing is easy? It's like a ninja mission in of itself, but it pays better the better you do. Actually, come to think of it, I think there are ninja missions that are literally stealing stuff," Naruto said, tapping his chin. Sasuke just rolled his eyes. They sat in silence for a while. "So Sasuke," Naruto began.

"Yeah?"

"If I left you alone, would you be okay?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't respond, letting his shock and mockery speak for him. "I'm serious!" Naruto snapped.

"I might get a decent night of sleep," Sasuke replied, shrugging.

"With your nightmares? Fat chance," Naruto snorted. Sasuke paused, acknowledging the point with a nod.

"Regardless, I wouldn't care. You aren't my friend Naruto. You're just a pest who won't leave me alone. And don't even try and read my emotions to prove me wrong," Sasuke said, tightening his control just in case.

"Yeah, I guess you'd be fine," Naruto said, shrugging.

"What brings all this on anyways?" Sasuke asked, faint hints of suspicion slipping from his control.

"Well the graduation test is coming up soon. And pass or fail, it's really unlikely I'm going to end up on the same team as you," Naruto said. "It got me thinking how you'll handle things without me around to pull your head out of your ass."

"Phh, the only thing you're any good at is being my punching bag," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, waving a hand idly in the air. "Well, I'm done for the night. See you tomorrow Sasuke."

"Good night Naruto," Sauske said.

_/*/_

"Shikamaru is going to be so angry at me," Naruto said, staring down at the dead deer.

"He'll get over it. Or not. Either way, we won't be around to be bothered by it," Kuruma said. "Besides, we need the flesh to work the jutsu, and they are basically overgrown mice anyways."

"Still feels bad," Naruto said, picking the deer corpse up with his chakra arm. "He lets me hide out on his clan's grounds, so killing one of his deer seems kinda of a dick move."

"I understand," Kuruma said, patiently. "But you said no to picking off some of the worse villagers, so betraying a friend's trust is what we're left with."

"You have the weirdest morals," Naruto complained, dropping the corpse into a hidden grove of trees. "Okay, now what?"

"Now for the hard part. You're going to need to carve the deer into your shape. As you carve, pump it full of chakra. Every couple of minutes you'll need to go through the hand seals I taught you. That'll forcibly shift the flesh until it looks like your body."

""Great," Naruto sighed, pulling out a knife and getting to work.

_/*/_

"And let us never speak of this again," a blood soaked Naruto declared over his freshly formed clone. Kuruma started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Hahaha, you, you're going to, hahaha, have to teach, hahaha, Hinata how to do this," Kuruma laughed.

"SON OF A-"

_/*/_

"Hey kid," the ramen chef greeted.

"Hey," an exhausted Naruto replied. "Get me the usual," he said, slumping down on his stool, resting his face in his arms.

"Sure thing. Long day?" the man said, starting Naruto's order.

"Ugh, you have no idea. I swear if one more thing happens today, I'm going to snap," Naruto said.

"I hear ya," the chef said, sympathetically. He cooked in a companionable silence, and soon put a bowl of fresh ramen in front of Naruto. Knowing his best customer well, he immediately got started on a second bowl. But before he got a single bite, the Hokage walked in the front door.

"Ah Naruto, I need to talk to you," he said. Naruto's chopsticks shattered. "Are you okay?"

"I don't suppose you just want to have some ramen together?" Naruto asked, through gritted teeth.

"No, I'm afraid not," Hiruzen said. "Are you okay, Naruto? You seem...off," he added cautiously.

"I've just had a really bad day," Naruto said, sighing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hiruzen offered.

"No thanks, I'd rather forget about it," Naruto said, smiling ruefully.

"Fair enough. Here, I've got nothing super important to talk about. Enjoy your dinner first, we can talk afterwards," Hiruzen said, ordering his own bowl of ramen. He chatted about his own day, talking about some of the funnier D-rank missions he had assigned. They laughed and enjoyed a leisurely meal together. When they had finished eating, Hiruzen sighed. "Well, now to business."

"If we have to," Naruto said, frowning.

"Sadly, we do," Hiruzen said, sighing. "Villagers reported that you lost control of the fox and were running around, terrorizing people as a demon." Naruto slumped against the bar, covering his face with his hands as he groaned.

"Why is everyone in this village so bloody stupid?" Naruto muttered. He sat up straight, and took a deep breath. "No, I didn't lose control. And I didn't terrorize anyone! I was just...ugh!" Naruto threw his hands up in frustration.

"It's okay Naruto, I believe you," Hiruzen said, calmly. "Just tell me what happened, alright?"

"Okay, okay. So there I was, minding my own business, when I felt a surge of pain from a good friend of mine," Naruto began.

"Yeah, a good 'friend'," Kuruma snickered.

_You shut up! _Naruto thought furiously.

"A good friend! And nothing else!" Naruto said outloud, getting a confused look from Hiruzen. "Just...just ignore that," he said weakly. "Anyways, I felt my friend in pain, and I rushed over to help. I ran over the rooftops, and I didn't hurt, or terrorize anyone."

"You felt their pain? From across nearly the whole village?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah. It's, ah, how do I explain this? Okay, well basically, sensing emotions isn't like seeing or hearing something. Distance doesn't matter so much. The intensity of the emotion matters, and the bonds between us matter," Naruto said.

"So things like friendship and affection make it easier to read?" Hiruzen asked, pulling out his pipe and packing tobacco inside.

"Right. But not just positive stuff. If someone hates me, like really hates me, it becomes easier. And even not emotional bonds. Like if someone is looking at me, that counts as a bond. Or if we share a location. Or if we are classmates. Stuff like that makes it easier as well," Naruto explained, gesturing with his hands. "It goes both ways too. The stronger I feel about someone, the easier it is to sense their emotions."

"So when your girlfriend is in trouble, you can sense her from pretty much anywhere in the village," Hiruzen concluded.

"She's not my girlfriend! Believe it!" Naruto protested, blushing.

"Well, maybe not yet," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe and inhaling. He blew out a smoke ring. "So what about the 'demon form'?" he asked, casually.

"I'm always in demon form. I'm a demon after all," Naruto said, sulkily. Hiruzen gave him a look, and Naruto relented. "Fine, fine. Okay. It's still not a demon form. I'm just pushing out with my chakra. Like this, see?" Naruto formed a tail with his chakra and gently picked up his empty bowl, handing it to Hiruzen.

"That's amazing. And you can surround your whole body like that?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah. It lets me move faster," Naruto said. "I suppose I do look a little more demonic when I'm completely covered in it," Naruto conceded.

"Hmm," Hiruzen hummed in agreement, nodding as he sucked on his pipe. "And it's all your chakra? You aren't using any of the fox's?"

"He doesn't let me use his chakra. He says I have to learn how to be independent rather than using him as a crutch," Naruto pouted. "I mean, it's my body, I figure he should help out once in a while, but he says he is helping by not coddling me."

"That is interesting," Hiruzen said, holding his hands together. "Now, one final thing. Your graduation exam to become a ninja is coming up. How are you feeling?"

"Not good. I've got the knowledge part down. At least, good enough to pass. The taijutsu part will be a breeze, but I can't get a hang of the ninjutsus that they teach," Naruto said, grimacing.

"Really? What happens?" Hiruzen asked.

"Here, I'll show you," Naruto said, making several hand signs. A puff of smoke surrounded him, and it cleared to reveal...a really decript looking Hokage, with drooping cheeks, and was approximately half the size of Hiruzen. The real Hokage's lips twitched in a smile, and Naruto poofed back into his normal form.

"I see. And that happens every time?" Hiruzen asked.

"Every time," Naruto confirmed. "I've got no idea what's going on. The fox just laughs and says I don't need ninjutsu when I ask him for help."

"Troubling, but not an immediate problem," Hiruzen said. "For individuals with extraordinary talents can receive a special assessment if they prove unable to pass the normal exam. Why just last year we had a boy who couldn't use any ninjutsu at all. And yet his skills with taijutsu were so great, he was able to pass a special assessment and is one of the top ninja of his year. I'm sure you'll be able to do something similar with your emotion sensing and um, demon form."

"Huh," Naruto said. "So do I even have to bother with the graduation exam?"

"Yes. It is better to eliminate your weakness of being unable to transform properly. Just because there is another route to success, doesn't mean it's the _better_ route," Hiruzen said, sternly. He frowned at Naruto, who smiled back.

"Well, is that all you wanted to talk about? Cause if you're done, I want to head home and get some sleep," Naruto said, yawning and stretching his arms.

"Go ahead. And good luck on your exam," Hiruzen said, waving Naruto away.

"Good night, old man," Naruto said, waving back as he left.

_/*/_

Naruto went through the exam, and as he expected he failed the ninjutsu portion of the exam. After his failed transformation he was brought in to talk to his teachers.

"Well, I'm sorry Naruto, but there is no way I can pass you," Iruka said.

"It's okay," Naruto said, shrugging. "I mean, there's always the special assessment right?" Naruto added. Iruka radiated some confusion at Naruto's words, but Mizuki radiated sadistic glee and surprise.

"Where did you learn about that?" Iruka asked.

"The Hokage told me about it when I told him I was worried about passing the exam," Naruto said.

"Hmm, well if he suggested it, I suppose we will set something up," Iruka said, scratching his head. "We'll get back to you, okay?"

"Sure," Naruto said, smiling and leaving the building. _Looks like Mizuki is plotting something, _Naruto thought to Kuruma.

"Indeed. And what a perfect opportunity for us. I thought we'd have to piss off a villager or fabricate an accident to fake our death. Instead we can pin it on that sadistic bastard," Kuruma said, satisfied.

_Yeah. He's a real jerk, so playing one final prank on him will be a great way to leave the village. But I guess now I've got to wait for him to do something first,_ Naruto thought. He spent most of the day just wandering around the village, keeping in nice obvious spots. Finally when the sun started to go down, Mizuki approached him.

"Hey, Naruto," he called, waving a hand.

"Hey, Mizuki," Naruto responded, walking over to him.

"That's sensei to you," he said, an easy grin failing to hide the surge of hatred he felt.

"Sure. What's up?" Naruto asked.

"I've got your special assessment test ready," Mizuki said. "Here, come with me." Mizuki lead Naruto to just outside the village's walls. The entire time he was radiating hatred and anticipation. They reached a small clearing in the woods, where Mizuki stopped. "Alright, so for the special assessment, we basically give you a fake ninja mission, and if you complete it, you graduate. Got it?"

"It'll be a piece of cake, believe it!" Naruto said, beaming and giving a thumbs up.

"Glad to see that enthusiasm. So basically you need to break into the Hokage's tower and steal a scroll, alright? But not just any scroll. We want you to grab the Scroll of Seals. Once you have it, bring it back here. I'll check to make sure it's the actual scroll, and return it afterwards," Mizuki explained, his hatred practically dripping from every word.

"You got it! I'll be back in no time!" Naruto said, trying to keep a straight face. He ran back into the village and immediately starting heading to where he had stored his clone. "He is really obvious about how he's going to betray me, isn't he?"

"Indeed. Thankfully he seems to believe you actually want to be a ninja. That should make deceiving him rather simple," Kuruma said.

"Yeah, this will be a piece of cake," Naruto said, going through the hand seals to activate his clone. He lurched as his senses split, almost falling down. "Urk, you didn't mention this."

"No, I didn't. You should have done a test run with the clone body before now," Kuruma said, simply.

"Really? This is important, and you still want to do that whole lesson thing? What if this causes me to mess up?" Naruto shouted, furious.

"Don't worry too much about it. Just keep your eyes closed in your real body. That should mitigate the worst of the confusion. You might be a little clumsier than usual, but this Mizuki is an idiot. You should be able to fool him no problem," Kuruma said, unrepentant.

"Fine. But there's one thing I forgot," Naruto said, canceling the jutsu. "I need to go steal a scroll from the shop to make this perfect. I'll be right back."

"I'm not going anywhere," Kuruma said, smiling at his joke.

_/*/_

Naruto sat, his back to a tree as he waited for Mizuki to show up. He idly rubbed his fingers across the elaborate scroll case he had stolen from a ninja store. _I can't feel it. This body is numb, and I can't sense emotions from it either, _Naruto thought, closing his eyes. _And I have to keep reminding myself to breath. Else it'll be really obvious that I'm just piloting a bunch of dead deer. _Naruto opened his eyes, and sighed.

"I thought Mizuki was supposed to be waiting for me. Did he have to go take a crap or something?" Naruto muttered.

"Patience is one of the primary virtues of the ninja," Mizuki sneered, from right above Naruto. Naruto yelped and shot backwards.

_Holy crap, is that what being snuck up on feels like? _Naruto thought, holding a heart to his chest, in both bodies.

"H-hey, Mizuki, you startled me," Naruto said. "I got the scroll," he added, tossing it to Mizuki.

"Good job," Mizuki praised. He opened the scroll and began reading. "Top ten reasons why Mizuki sucks. Number 1; he's an ugly jerk who is dumber than a pile of bricks," he said, rage filling his voice.

"Heh," Naruto laughed lightly, his heart beating so hard he could hear it in his real body. "Did you really think I was so dumb that I would commit treason just because you asked? It's the Scroll of Seals, there's no way they'd risk it in a test."

"You demonic brat!" Mizuki yelled, grabbing Naruto and slamming him against the tree. "You think you're so clever? And always so proud about what you are. You're just a monster. A monster who killed your parents! Did you really think you were an orphan _before_ the Kyuubi attacked?"

"Like I'd believe anything a traitor like you has to say," Naruto said. "You're just a sadist and a bully. You can't hurt me with your words anymore!"

"No, I suppose I can't," Mizuki said, smirking. He drew a kunai. "I guess I'll have to hurt you like this, instead!" he yelled, stabbing Naruto in the stomach. "And I'm just getting...it's cold. Why is your blood cold?"

"This really is a useless jutsu," Naruto said, shaking his head. "Oh well, this should be good enough. As one final favor from a student to a teacher, I suggest you start running," he added, slumping against the tree and beginning to cut the connection to his clone.

"Mizuki! What have you done?!" he heard Iruka yell as he snapped back to his real body. He open his eyes, and flexed his hands.

"Well, I guess I'm dead now," he whispered.

"Indeed. And now your life can finally get started," Kuruma replied.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Well this chapter went on longer than expected, and that's after cutting out some stuff. **

**Naruto vs Neji: It really isn't a fight right now. Naruto in this fic will end up being a lot weaker than he ends up in canon. But he's starting off a lot stronger. And Neji, well he needs physical contact to do any damage. Though on the other hand, it wasn't an actual fight either. It's taking a single punch. If Naruto had to swap between offense and defense, Neji would have a chance. But he had no hope of breaking the chakra shield. **

**Special Assessment Test: Basically my justification on how Rock Lee became a ninja when he certainly would fail any ninjutsu part of a test. **

**Flesh Clone jutsu: I figure Kuruma must know an absolute ton of jutsus, having been alive as long as he has, has been in countless ninja battles, and always has had a ton of power. I also figured that someone, somewhere made a flesh clone jutsu considering there are clones of pretty much everything else. So I decided to come up with a reason why nobody ever, ever uses it. So it sucks. It's almost entirely useless for combat, and too slow and clumsy for infiltration, with obvious tells that show something is wrong. **


	7. Interlude: A Funeral

Sasuke attended Naruto's funeral, feeling odd. Ninja funerals were a lot different. Often there wasn't a body, or if there was, it was often mangled horribly. In the rare cases it wasn't, the body was often destroyed to protect clan secrets. The how and why of the person's death was often classified as well. As would be many details about their life. So memorial stones were set up, and the ninja's name was slowly carved into the stone, while the mourners simply watched in silence. There was often a crowd. Old and current team members, clan members, the Hokage, and of course friends and family.

Civilian funerals by comparison were, well odd. The body was the weirdest thing. Naruto's body was briefly seen in public, before being placed inside a coffin. That was disturbing to Sasuke, he kept expecting Naruto to fidget, look over to him and grin, or to leap up and tease him about caring. Sasuke tried to bring his emotions under control on reflex and felt a pang of sadness. _I'll never have to do that again_, he thought, blinking his eyes to prevent tears from forming.

To try and distract himself, Sasuke looked towards the other funeral goers. There was barely anyone there. The Hokage, whose mountain carving had more emotion on its face. A few classmates; Kiba, Shikamaru, and of course Hinata. She was acting unusually. Or perhaps it was to be expected. She was barely reacting at all to anything, as two of her attendants spoke mournfully to her. Iruka was there, sitting in a wheelchair, his body covered in bandages. And two civilians, an older man and his daughter. They were the only ones to actually speak. They went up and gave a little speech about how they would miss their best customer, his bright smile, and cheerful jokes. They talked about his pranks, and his strong desire for peace. They openly cried, and Sasuke could see how uncomfortable that made his fellow ninja.

There was one final call to give people a chance to come up and pay their respects. Hinata walked up, hesitated, and shook her head. An attendant put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and her head fell in sorrow. No one else even tried. They all went up to see Naruto one last time, and Sasuke frowned. Something was bothering him. Something was off. And he couldn't put his finger on it.

Naruto's corpse was placed in the coffin and they walked silently alongside it as they brought it to an abandoned estate.

"I had hope to one day give you the key to this place," the Hokage said. He made a hand sign, and a pit opened in the ground. Naruto's coffin was placed inside, and with another sign the body was buried. With that the mourners began to disperse. Sasuke stared at the grave for several minutes, as his spine itched with frustration. Something was wrong and it was driving Sasuke crazy. He started to walk back when he noticed Iruka resting in his wheelchair, not moving.

"Iruka?" Sasuke asked, walking up to him.

"Oh, Sasuke, how are you?" Iruka asked. "Sorry, that was a dumb question," he added, shaking his head and wincing. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you have a moment to talk?" Sasuke asked, formally.

"Sorta," Iruka sighed. "I need to get back to the hospital, but I'm too tired to keep going."

"I can take you there as we speak," Sasuke offered, going up to the back of the wheelchair and pushing Iruka along.

"Thank you," Iruka said. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Naruto," Sasuke said, causing Iruka to stiffen. "There's something bothering me about his death."

"Of course there is," Iruka said, sighing. He took a deep breath and relaxed. "I understand, you likely have some strong feelings about the matter. What did you want to know?"

"How did he die?" Sasuke asked, bluntly.

"You ask for a lot. I'd rather not think about it too much," Iruka said, wincing.

"Sorry," Sasuke said, blandly.

"No, if this helps bring you peace, then I should take responsibility as your old teacher and push through my discomfort," Iruka said, frowning. "But I don't actually have that many details. By the time I had arrived, Naruto was already dead."

"I see. I will have to be satisfied with whatever you do know," Sasuke said.

"Alright," Iruka said, nodding. "From what we can tell, Mizuki tried to trick Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals. Naruto figured it out, and decided to confront and taunt Mizuki about it. I figured Mizuki lost his temper and stabbed Naruto in the stomach. By the time I arrived, Naruto had already bled out."

"He bled out?" Sasuke asked, keeping his voice steady.

"Yes," Iruka said, nodding, a confused look on his face.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, ignoring Iruka. Sasuke traveled the rest of the way in silence, ignoring Iruka's few attempts to talk. They eventually arrived at the hospital, where Iruka thanked Sasuke with an odd look on his face. Sasuke ignored that too, and headed home.

_He bled out. From a single stab wound to the stomach. That can't be right. Even normal ninjas can survive that. And Naruto is anything but normal. Hell, I've done more damage to Naruto than a single stab wound. But he left a corpse behind, _Sasuke thought as he walked. _So he should be dead. There's no jutsu that can do that. No jutsu that I know of anyways, _Sasuke admitted to himself. _On the other hand, I suppose it's possible he died. If Mizuki was torturing him before hand, he'd heal from those injuries, and would keep healing. Until he couldn't anymore, _Sasuke frowned. _Wait! That night with Naruto, he was talking about leaving me alone. He said he was talking about us being assigned to different teams, but what if he wasn't? What if he was planning his death the whole time, and he was trying to say goodbye? That must be it! Naruto is alive! _Sasuke thought, a small smile curling his lips.

_/*/_

Danzo knocked politely at the Hokage's office door, and waited to be called in. When he entered, the man was staring out his office window, clearly deep in thought. Danzo waited for a minute, and then cleared his throat to get Hiruzen's attention.

"Yes Danzo, what is it?" Hiruzen asked, focusing.

"We need to speak about what will happen now that the Jinchuuriki is dead," Danzo said, bluntly.

"Danzo my old friend, can you not leave an old man even a single day to grieve?" Hiruzen asked, sighing.

"Not when that old man is the Hokage," Danzo said, calmly. "With the Jinchuuriki dead, the village is vulnerable. We need to take action now."

"We are less vulnerable than you think. Nobody outside the village knows Naruto as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and most people in the village didn't realize what it meant to be the jinchuuriki," Hiruzen said. "Sadly," he added, under his breath.

"Perhaps. But this is the year we are hosting the genin exams. The other ninja villages will take this opportunity to spy upon us, and there is always a chance that they will discover that we no longer have a jinchuuriki," Danzo said.

"I suppose there is no harm in being prepared," Hiruzen said, nodding once. "I shall recall Jiraiya. He shall act as a safeguard to keep the other villages from realizing our loss. Besides, he needs to be told," Hiruzen sighed again. Danzo nodded.

"You seem to be taking this loss hard. I've seen you lose entire ninja teams and not get so melancholy," Danzo observed, frowning.

"This failure is much more personal. Minato's only child, the child he trusted to me, was killed. And not just killed, but killed by a traitor. A traitor I had _teaching our children._ A traitor who is, despite our best efforts, still at large," Hiruzen said, practically growling by the time he finished speaking.

"That is a problem, but I'm confident that Mizuki will be tracked down soon enough. And he was a teacher because he was too incompetent to be an active ninja. I'm not too worried about him. On a different subject, I am surprised that you didn't make the Jinchuuriki an honorary ninja. Despite his failures, he was loyal to the village and did, technically, die in service of it," Danzo said, scratching at the bandages on his face.

"I would've," Hiruzen admitted, calming down. "But Naruto hated the idea of being a ninja. He hated violence, and didn't want to hurt anyone. I bet that's how that bastard Mizuki managed to stab him," Hiruzen said, his anger returning.

"Well we will know for sure once we catch up with him," Danzo said.

_/*/_

The quiet bustle that characterized the Hyuuga household was suddenly cut by a loud scream. Hanabi looked up from her studies, and carefully put her brush down on the table. Her hand trembled, spilling ink on the wood surface of the table. She frowned, and gently dabbed it up with her fingertips. Standing she followed the running members of the Branch Family, trying to ignore the growing dread in her stomach as her ears caught faint sounds of people weeping. She unconsciously grabbed her hand, her fingers running across the ring her older sister had given her, as she approached Hinata's room. She walked through the open door, and paused in shock and horror. Hanging from a noose was the body of her beloved older sister.

Hanabi froze, staring blankly at the scene in front of her. Several men were arguing, as one of Hinata's female attendants was collapsed on the floor, weeping. There was a note lying on a nearby table. More and more members of the branch family were showing up, gawking at the sight. Something in Hanabi snapped at their reaction.

"Enough!" she yelled, her voice frozen. "Stop gawking like a bunch of common peasants, and get my sister down from there!" Several branch members leaped to obey her, never mind her being a quarter of their age. Once they had followed her command, she ordered them all to leave the room, telling them to inform her father what had happened when he returned home. Finally, she was left in peace, Hinata's corpse lying on the ground. And finally she allowed herself to break down sobbing. She cried for what felt like hours. When she finished, tears and snot were dripping down her face, and all she felt like doing was curling in a ball, and doing nothing until her father came home.

"At the very least, I'll cry in my own room," Hanabi muttered to herself as she stood, wiping her face clean with a sleeve. Her gaze fell upon the note, still sitting on the table. She picked it up, and unfolded it, beginning to read.

_My dearest younger sister,_ it began. Hanabi's tears returned, and she had to pause for a few minutes to let herself finish crying. She wiped her eyes clear with her stained shirt sleeve and tried again.

_My dearest younger sister;_

_I am sorry to be leaving you like this. I truly am. But I can't live without Naruto, and I've decided to follow him. It will be a long time until we meet again, but know that we will meet again one day, and on that day I hope that you will have fulfilled your promise to me, and that I'll be able to fulfill my promise to you._

_Your loving older sister,_

_Hinata_

Hanabi trembled with rage and sorrow. She yanked the ring from her finger and threw it across the room with an inarticulate shout of rage.

"How can you be my loving older sister if you're dead?!" Hanabi screamed. She glared at Hinata's corpse. "What is that promise worth to you if you won't be here to see it through? You aren't even wearing your ring!" Hanabi gasped when she realized what she just said. She activated her byakugan and searched the room closely. The only ring she could find was the one she had just thrown. She ran back to the note and reread it.

"Left, not dead, saying we will meet again. And asking me to fulfill my promise," Hanabi muttered to herself. "She's not dead," she gasped. "She created a body double somehow." Hanabi retrieved her ring, placing it back on her finger. "And when she finally comes home, I swear I'll be the best clan leader she'll have ever seen!" Hanabi vowed, destroying the note so that no one else would ever read it.

* * *

**Author's Notes: So a couple people have already seen through Naruto's trick, but no one is pursuing him yet. **

**Danzo is less of a jerk right now, because I feel like he actually respects Hiruzen. Also I feel like he's one of the people who don't actually hate Naruto. But as a ninja, he views Naruto as nothing more than a weapon, so it's not like he provides any positive interaction either. **


	8. Chapter 5

Several weeks later, Naruto woke to the now familiar sensation of Hinata cuddled up to him and wrapped in his arms. Not being used to camping outdoors, and lacking any sort of supplies, Hinata had been miserable the first night out of the village. Naruto had suggested that they sleep cuddled up together, and Hinata had agreed, a blush on her face. As an added bonus, Naruto noticed that his presence helped beat back the loneliness and regret that would fill Hinata at times.

Still the cold had been a deciding factor in heading south, that, and the lack of ninja in the area. So the pair traveled to the Land of Waves, and were expecting to reach a village today. With that in mind, Naruto gently eased his way out of Hinata's grasp and set off into the woods. He wandered over to a stream they had found last night and followed it until it reached a deep pool. He waited patiently at it's edge, forming a tail of chakra behind him. He spotted a fish, and his tail lashed forward like a bolt of lightning, impaling it. Within an hour, he had a half-dozen fish caught for breakfast, and he could see the smoke where Hinata had restarted their fire.

"We should make some disguises," Hinata said, after they finished eating breakfast.

"Yeah? Why?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"Well, we went through all that effort to fake our deaths. But if we're seen in foreign towns the village will learn that we're still alive eventually," Hinata explained. "So I've been working on a disguise. Well specifically, it's a transformation jutsu."

"That sounds pretty cool, lets see it," Naruto said, smiling. Hinata smiled back and nodded. She made some hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Hinata's white eyes were now crimson, her black hair was now a snow white, and most importantly, she had a pair of fox ears on her head, and had sprouted a fox tail.

"How is it?" Hinata asked shyly, radiating a mixture of embarrassment and worry.

"You look adorable Hinata!" Naruto said, sweeping her up in a hug. Hinata eeped in surprise, but relaxed. "What should I do for a disguise?"

"Well," Hinata nervously poked her fingers together. "Um, maybe just keep your chakra skin out? That certainly works. Unless, of course, it's too much effort."

"Nah, it's not a problem at all," Naruto said. As easy as breathing, his chakra flowed out of him forming a vaguely fox-like silhouette around his body, a single fox like tail showing up. "I'll keep it limited to one tail," he said, his face barely visible underneath the flowing blue chakra.

"We should use fake names as well," Hinata suggested.

"Nah," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I want people to know my name. And I know I'll mess up and call you by your real name eventually anyways. So let's just stick with our real names. It's not like the name Naruto or Hinata will matter at all to these people."

"But if rumor that Hinata and Naruto were found together alive makes it back to the village, they'll come after us," Hinata protested.

"I suppose. But let's keep them simple at least, okay?" Naruto said, scratching a cheek.

"Okay. Ummm," Hinata trailed off.

"How about Hina and Naru?" Naruto suggested, brightly. Hinata gave him a look, as she radiated disbelief. "Okay, fine, it's not a good idea," Naruto muttered, pouting slightly.

"How about you go by Tai and I go by Tsu?" Hinata suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Naruto said, shrugging. "Let's get going, I want to see my first town that isn't a ninja village!"

"Right, lets go!" Hinata said, a small grin of excitement escaping her.

_/*/_

"Wow, this place is a dump," Naruto said, looking around at the town. The buildings were run down, and instead of a proper road, the town had a mud path that was torn up from all the people and carts traveling through. As they watched, a particularly run down looking cart got stuck in a rut, and the man driving it began to curse as he tried to push himself out.

"It could be better," Hinata agreed. "I wonder why things are like this?"

"Yeah, these people are miserable," Naruto said. "Except for those guys. They seem to be in a good mood," he added, pointing to a group of ruffians swaggering down the street. They carried crude clubs and swords as they walked, occasionally jeering at some villager scurrying away. "Let's go ask them what's going on," he added.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hinata asked, nervously.

"No, but I'm doing it anyways," Naruto said, leaping down from the building he was perched on. He landed in the mud with a splat, sending it flying anywhere, and splattering the ruffians.

_Hey, I guess there is an added bonus to my disguise. I didn't get any mud on me, _Naruto thought, as he let the ruffian's outrage pour over him.

"Do you know who you're messing with? Who the hell do you think you are?" One of the thugs yelled, though Naruto could sense his fear beneath his bravado.

"Me?" Naruto asked, pointing a thumb to himself, "I'm the great demon fox, Na-Tai," Naruto said, catching his name at the last second.

"Na-Tai?" A thug asked.

"I dunno, I never heard of him. Sounds foreign," his friend replied. "I bet he isn't a demon at all, just some punk with a flashy technique. I'm not scared at all!"

"Yes you are," Naruto said, amused. "I can taste your fear," he added, walking forward. A thug with a club swung it at him, and Naruto caught it in his hand. "Now, that's not very nice," he said, mildly as he crushed the club. He shook the splinters out of his hand, and slung an arm around the thug that attacked him. "Come on, I'm not asking for much. Just some directions around town, what sights there are to see, things like that," he said cheerfully.

"I ain't sayin nothin," the thug said, flailing ineffectually.

"You are being weirdly stubborn about this," Naruto informed the man. He sighed as he felt the wave of aggression and anger spike in the other thugs. They rushed him, yelling incoherently with their weapons raised. Naruto leaned back, solidifying his chakra tail before using it to give him a boost, allowing him to neatly back flip over the charging thugs.

"Get him," they shouted, turning around and charging again.

"You've got to be kidding me," Naruto said, frowning.

_/*/_

"So what have we learned today?" Naruto asked cheerfully, sitting atop a poorly made roof as he looked down at the collapsed and muddy thugs.

"You can't get away with this," a thug said, groggily. "We're Gato's boys. You'll regret this."

"Okay then. Clearly _you _haven't learned anything. But I learned that some people truly are as stupid as they look," Naruto said, shaking his head in disbelief. He jumped down to the muddy street. "Seriously, how is asking for directions grounds for a fight? Especially since I'm obviously much stronger than you." A prickle of worry, fear, and anger caught his attention and Naruto turned his head to the side to see a young women in a muddy dress approaching him.

"Umm, Mr. Fox demon," the women said, nervously. "Are you going to kill them?"

"Nah. They just tried to fight me. The beating they just got is good enough for that," Naruto said, shrugging.

"You should," she said viciously, suddenly releasing a spike of rage."They deserve it."

"Why?"

"They are Gato's men. They push us around, steal whatever they want, and they-they took my baby sister!" she yelled.

"That's awful. Is that why this town is so crappy?" Naruto asked, looking around.

"Yes. Gato takes all of our money and forces us to work for him for nothing. And if we try and fight back, he has those thugs make an example of someone," the women said, trembling in rage.

"Wow...that's really crappy," Naruto said, at a loss for words. The woman looked up at him.

"But you fought them. You could kill them all," the women said, a spark of hope mixing with her rage.

"Yeaaah, that's not going to happen," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't like killing as a general rule."

"So you'll just leave us to suffer?" the women said, radiating despair.

"Ehhh," Naruto shrugged. "It's not that I want to, but what can I do? Sure, I can slaughter those idiots, but that Gato guy will just hire more. Or hire ninja instead. So I really don't think violence will solve anything here."

"That's not entirely true," Hinata said, emerging from her hiding spot and joining Naruto in the muddy street, her feet standing on top of the mud, keeping her clothing pristine. "If someone were to kill Gato, that might solve the problem they find themselves in."

"Hin-Tsu, are you suggesting that I kill this Gato guy?" Naruto asked, disappointed.

"No," Hinata said, shaking her head. "This is a job for ninja. Situations like this one is exactly why ninja exist in the first place."

"Do you really think anyone in this village could afford to hire a ninja?" The woman asked, bitterly.

"Perhaps we should talk about this in another location?" Hinata suggested. "There are too many people watching for comfort," she added, glancing meaningfully at Naruto. He nodded, and looked expectantly at the unnamed woman.

_/*/_

"Amelia, who and what are these people?" An old man with wispy white hair asked. "And why have you brought them to me?"

"This is Na-Tai and Hin-Tsu. They are...umm, I don't actually know what they are. But they beat up a bunch of Gato's men when they tried messing with them," the woman, Amelia, said.

"We're demons. And really, we're trying to decide if we want to help you and how we would do so," Naruto said, cheerfully.

"My name is Yan. You say you are demon? Do you mean like the demon brothers, Gozu and Meizu?" Yan asked, peering blearily at Naruto.

"Demon brothers? Ooh, who are they?" Naruto asked, excitedly.

"They are a pair of ninja from the Hidden Mist. They work as Gato's goons, assassinating anyone who would challenge his rule," Yan explained.

"Why do they work for him?" Hinata asked.

"Same reasons ninjas work for anyone. Money," Yan said, with a snort.

"Does anyone actually like Gato?" Naruto asked suddenly, his eyes closed. "No, don't bother telling me," he said, interrupting them before they began to speak. "Your hate is pretty obvious already. I'll go around town and check for myself."

"What does he mean?" Yan asked Hinata.

"As a demon, Na-Tai can peer into the hearts of man," Hinata explained, standing up and following Naruto out the door. "We'll be back soon," she called as she walked. The pair raced around the town, jumping from roof to roof as they explored. Eventually they ended up outside of a gigantic mansion.

"Still nothing," Naruto said, frustrated.

"I'm surprised you care so much Naruto," Hinata said, using her Byakugan to scan the house. "Why are you so determined to find someone who likes this man?"

"I don't know," Naruto sighed. "I guess I just feel bad for him, you know? It's not easy to be hated by so many people."

"**Don't be ridiculous kit,"** Kuruma chimed in. **"You are thinking he's just like you, but this Gato human deserves to be hated. He's driven these people into poverty and is ruling them as a tyrant. Of course they are going to hate him. He is reaping the result of his actions." **

"We've got incoming," Hinata said, pointing at a pair of hidden ninja who leaped out of their hiding spots at her words.

"Your sensei must be so disappointed in you, girl," the first ninja said, "a properly trained ninja wouldn't reveal they had detected us so blatantly."

"It's a good thing we aren't ninja than," Naruto said, crossing his arms.

"And if we were ninja and we still detected you so easily, what would that say about you?" Hinata said, shrugging elegantly.

"Wow, that was enough to set you off huh?" Naruto said, as their rage swept over him. He quickly wrapped his chakra tail around Hinata and moved her behind him as the two ninja attacked, throwing out spiked chains. He flared his chakra, as the chains wrapped around him. The chains grinded against his shields, trying to tear through it to no effect. One of the ninja made a few quick hand signs, causing his chain to ignite. The chain glowed white as flames ran up the metal before exploding against Naruto's chakra. To no effect. The other ninja tried to pull Naruto off his feet, but Naruto just gripped the ground with his chakra and refused to move.

"Done? My turn," Naruto said, cheerfully. He flexed the chakra the chains had wrapped around, letting it swell until the chains shattered. A clawed arm of chakra shot forward and grabbed the ninja on his right. In a large arc, Naruto lifted the ninja overhead and slammed him into his companion. He kept the two trapped beneath his chakra until he felt them fill with despair and defeat.

"You'll pay for this. Our boss is the Demon Swordsman of the Mist. You don't stand a chance against him," one of the ninja said, his defiance flaring up a bit as Naruto released them.

"A demon? Is he a demon like me?" Naruto asked, excitedly.

"What?" the downed ninja said, surprised.

"I'm a demon. What do you think all this chakra is? Some kind of ninjutsu?" Naruto snorted, waving his chakra tail around.

"**This human wouldn't know a demon if you bit his nose off," **Kuruma interjected. **"I bet this 'Demon Swordsman of the Mist' is just some butcher of a ninja made famous for slaughtering a bunch of humans." **

"So why do you call him a demon?" Naruto asked the flabbergasted ninjas.

"He killed his entire graduating class as a genin," one of the ninja said to the triumphant 'I told you so' from Kuruma.

"How disgusting," Hinata said, stepping around Naruto. "And you look up to him for that?"

"We look up to him because he's the strongest ninja in the Hidden Mist, and he'll be Mizukage someday," one of the ninja said.

"Cool. Well that has nothing to do with us, and hopefully we'll never meet him," Naruto said, shrugging. "If he's not a demon, than I really don't have any interest in him." Hinata nodded, and then crouched by each of the ninja. She put her hands over their faces and knocked them out with a pulse of chakra.

"Let's return to Yan and decide what to do next," Hinata suggested, standing back up. Naruto nodded and the pair dashed off.

_/*/_

"So, will you help us?" Amelia asked, eagerly.

"I dunno," Naruto said, shrugging. "You were right that nobody likes Gato. And we beat up his bodyguards without any trouble. But I don't really know what I could do to help."

"You could kill Gato and free us from his oppression," Amelia said, fiercely.

"I don't really want to kill anyone though," Naruto pointed out. "I mean, I might if I get in a really serious fight or if someone hurts Hin-Tsu, but otherwise, why would I?"

"Because you're a demon?" Amelia suggested, radiating confusion.

"Just because Na-Tai is a demon doesn't mean he likes killing people," Hinata snapped, glaring at Amelia.

"Yeah!" Naruto said.

"Okay, okay. We're sorry," Yan apologized. "Is there anything we can do to convince you to help?" he asked, radiating despair with just a tinge of hope.

"Maybe. I don't know. I want to help, but I want to get something out of it as well," Naruto said, scratching his head.

"Well what do you want?" Yan asked.

"I'm not sure," Naruto said, closing his eyes. _Any ideas? _he asked Kuruma.

"**What are they even going to pay you with? If they had anything of value they would use that to hire ninja instead," **Kuruma rumbled, his eyes closed. **"We should just leave and head to someplace that doesn't look and smell like a latrine." **

"It'd be nice if we didn't have to walk," Naruto murmured, talking out loud.

"Something to travel with? You mean like a boat?" Yan asked.

"I've never been on a boat before," Hinata said, getting excited.

"Same," Naruto said, getting excited his ownself. "I'll help you for a boat-"

"**Careful kit. This old man is wily. Don't let him scam you, and don't let him trick you into doing anything you will regret. Remember, you are a demon, not some ninja who'll kill for a handful of coins," **Kuruma interrupted.

"But not just an average boat. I want a really good boat, that Hin-Tsu and I can pilot ourselves. And I won't kill anyone either. If I'm going to help you with Gato, I'm going to do it my way," Naruto added, quickly.

"Supplies too. Enough for a long journey, so a couple of months worth at the very least," Hinata chimed in, catching on. Yan and Amelia frowned.

"A boat would be possible," Yan said, scratching his neck. "We can still fish, but someone would be giving up their livelihood for your boat." Naruto looked at him carefully. Yan was radiating relief and a hint of eagerness.

"What livelihood? The one Gato has pretty much stomped out of all of you?" Naruto asked, rhetorically. "Be realistic. Either you can give me the best boat you've got, or you can somehow find the money to hire ninja to kill Gato for you. But he can just offer way more money than you can."

"Don't act like we're trying to sell you fish!" Amelia shouted, her frustration boiling over. "We're bargaining for our lives here. Are you happy about that? Are you happy that you get to extort us for whatever you want? Cause you're right! We can't offer as much as Gato so you can take pretty much whatever you want!"

"Don't think you're the only one who has suffered," Hinata snapped back. "Or that we're somehow the bad guys for wanting compensation for risking our lives. If you don't want to pay, don't. Save up and hire some ninja to kill Gato, or do it yourselves. We can just move on."

"How can demons like yourselves possibly understand what we're going through?" Amelia yelled, her fists clenched.

"When Hin-Tsu said I can see into the hearts of man she meant I can literally feel all of your emotions. I feel your frustration as if it were my own. Just like I can feel Yan's hope and relief. He knows what I'm asking for is a good deal, he's just trying to barter for a better one," Naruto said, standing perfectly still and staring intently at Amelia

"I can see every beat of your heart, and the flow of your chakra. At a glance, I know you inside and out. I know you broke your ankle sometime in your past, I know that you've got tapeworms, and I know exactly how many fleas are crawling through your hair," Hinata said, mimicking Naruto's stance. Naruto felt a their fear and awe and smiled brightly.

"So we can keep bartering if you like, but we already know you're going to agree with giving us a boat," Naruto said.

"Okay, okay, we get it. But how do we know that you won't just betray us? You said you wouldn't kill Gato after all," Yan said, holding up his hands.

"Just don't give us the boat until we've helped you," Naruto shrugged. "As for what we're going to do, well let's talk about that. Why can't you guys do anything about Gato?"

"Because he's hired thugs and ninja to protect him and oppress us," Amelia said, her frustration flaring up again.

"Right. But none of them like him. So why do they listen to him?" Naruto asked.

"Because he's paying them obviously," Amelia said, crossing her arms.

"Are you sure? Cause if that's it, than why don't they just take all his money for themselves?" Naruto asked.

"Because the ninja would stop them. And the thugs would stop the ninja if they decided to betray Gato," Yan explained.

"Hold on a second, how would those thugs be able to stop the ninja? Cheap weapons and bravado isn't going to do anything to ninja, not even the weaklings we beat up earlier," Hinata said, radiating disbelief.

"You shouldn't underestimate numbers. Enough thugs can wear down even the greatest of ninja," Yan said, gravely. "Also, if they did betray Gato, the thugs would at least tell everyone what happened. No one would hire those ninja again."

"That makes more sense," Naruto said, nodding. "Okay, so that's why they listen to Gato. Then the answer is pretty easy."

"Kill Gato!" Amelia said, eagerly.

"No. I don't want to kill anyone, and that might not work anyway. I mean, all that money would still be there, and I don't know if it'd be the ninja, the thugs, or some third person who would take it all if Gato died. But there's no guarantee that they'd be any better than Gato is. It'd be hard for them to be worse than Gato, but better?" Naruto said. "Nah, my plan is simple. If the problem is that Gato has too much money, then I'll just steal all the money!"

"We're going to need a pretty big bag to carry all of that stuff," Hinata said, rubbing her chin. "And what will we do about the furniture and other big objects?"

"I dunno. Destroy it maybe?" Naruto suggested.

"That would be pretty noisy. I'd rather not have to fight the ninja if we can avoid it," Hinata said, frowning.

"Hmm, maybe as a parting gesture? Set the building on fire or something. That'd distract any pursuers as well," Naruto said.

"And then the thugs will loot the town," Yan predicted, bitterly.

"Loot the town of what?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Anything. Everything. They might just burn it down and slaughter the remaining townsfolk," Yan said.

"But why though?" Naruto asked.

"Because they're scum," Amelia spat.

"Gato is squeezing the life out of this town, but he is trying to make money. But without him signing their paychecks, the thugs will move on. But they'll try and get every last bit of money or satisfaction out of this town first," Yan explained.

"Well you'll just have to fight them off then," Hinata said.

"If we could do that, then we wouldn't need your help in the first place," Amelia snapped.

"No, you need us to make sure the ninja don't bother you anymore," Hinata said, her face passive even as she got annoyed at Amelia. "And they won't loot the town, there simply isn't enough money here for that. The ordinary thugs you can be handled by anyone willing to fight."

"But if it makes you feel better, we'll beat up a bunch of them on the way out," Naruto said, sympathetically. "That way, they'll be hurting too badly to cause too much trouble for the town."

"When do you plan on doing this?" Yan asked, frowning.

"I dunno. Sooner the better I guess. No offense, but I don't really want to hang around in such a miserable place. And I mean that in the most literal way possible. So you should go get that boat ready, cause we're going to need it right away," Naruto rambled.

"So..." Amelia said, expectantly.

"We'll do it tonight," Hinata said, firmly.

_/*/_

That night they were looking over the mansion. Naruto had declined to keep his chakra cloak up, but Hinata was still in her fox hybrid disguise. They were both carrying burlap sacks and Hinata had her Byakugan on.

"There's about seventeen normal people, either thugs or servants. Gato is sleeping in a bed, alone, and I don't see any ninja. There's several traps in his vault, but they shouldn't be a problem for us." Hinata reported.

"This should be pretty easy then. We could just brute force it, but I want to get as much stuff as possible. So let's sneak to the vault, empty it, go wake up Gato, set the building on fire, beat up the guards slash get everyone outside, and then run into town, get on the boat, and sail off into the distance," Naruto said.

And so they did. Sneaking into the mansion was easy. Avoiding the thugs and servants, even easier. The traps guarding the vault might've been a danger to the average chunin, but not to Hinata who could see every detail of every trap with her Byakugan. Then they gave Gato a rude awakening, throwing him out of bed, and then out of the house. They fought the guards, and in the chaos, set the building on fire. They threw everyone out and headed off into town, their burlap sacks bulging with the night's work.

"Well that was easy," Naruto commented as they walked towards the town.

"Mmm," Hinata hummed, her eyes aching. She smiled as she glanced over at Naruto, only to see him stiffen. Suddenly he tackled her, covering her with his body as a rain of senbon needles were launched at them. The needles harmlessly bounced off of Naruto's chakra, but a couple slipped past Naruto, piercing Hinata's foot.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto yelled, visibly scanning Hinata's body.

"Hin-Tsu, remember?" Hinata said, trying to hide the pain with a smile. Judging by Naruto's growl, she didn't succeed.

"You shouldn't have done that," Naruto growled to the ninja that attacked them. They wore a mask and had long black hair. Staying silent they launched a barrage of senbon against Naruto which were just an ineffective as the first barrage. Without hesitation, Naruto shot his chakra arms forward, landing a nasty gash down the ninja's side. They sent another series of senbon at Naruto as he attacked, but Naruto's training payed off, and his defenses didn't falter for an instant.

" Ice Wall Jutsu!" the ninja cried, forming a barrier of ice to intercept Naruto's next attack. Hinata activated her Byakugan and gasped.

"Naruto to your left!" She yelled, desperately. A ninja appeared, swinging a giant cleaver of a sword. Naruto turned, and blocked, crossing both arms in an x as his chakra tails did the same. The sword impacted the chakra, and flung Naruto back. Naruto stared at the deep cut in his arm, hissing in pain as the cut steamed as it regenerated.

"Water Prison Jutsu," the ninja said, fingers flying through the hand seals. A sphere of water formed around Naruto, and stopped when it hit his chakra. Naruto stared at the water surrounding him, perplexed.

"So did you mean to do that or-" Naruto began, only to be interrupted by the other ninja releasing some sort of ice jutsu, freezing the ball of water solid. Hinata didn't hesitate, filling her injured foot full of chakra in order to compensate for the injury, and launched herself forward. She ignored the ninja, knowing that if she couldn't free Naruto she wouldn't have much of a chance against them. Instead she went straight for Naruto, her Byakugan seeking out microscopic weaknesses in the ice. Each slap of her palms sent a pulse of chakra down through the ice, expanding each crack and micro-fracture further.

"Girl, I don't know what you think you're doing, but there is no way you'll break Haku's ice with such weak strikes," the male ninja said, walking forward, his sword at his side. "Now if you'll surrender peacefully, I'll give you both to Gato alive. He'll torture you, but that'll give you a chance to escape at least."

"You should never underestimate a demon," Hinata said, turning around. She gave a satisfied smile as she saw Naruto gather his chakra together into a single claw. "Such a weak technique won't work on us."

On cue, Naruto smashed through the ice, sending the claw of chakra straight for the male ninja. Surprised, the ninja blocked the attack with his blade, only to find it yanked out of his grasp when Naruto pulled the claw back towards him. At the same time, the other ninja launched a barrage of senbon at Hinata, but she deflected them all away with a blast of chakra from her hands.

"There we go," Naruto said, smirking as he brandished the blade. "Not so confident now that I've got your giant sword thingy huh?"

"I'm the demon swordsman of the Mist, Zabuza. And I'm not going to let a pair of kids mock me," Zabuza said, glaring. "Hidden in the Mist Jutsu." A cloud of mist enveloped the area.

"Really? Mist?" Naruto asked, yawning. Hinata tugged at his sleeve and silently pointed to where Zabuza was slowly summoning water clones. Naruto nodded, and launched an all out attack, holding onto the sword with a chakra tail and launching it towards Zabuza at high speeds.

"Sir, look out!" Haku yelled, moving in front of the blade. Startled by the sudden burst of love and desperation coming from Haku, Naruto lost control of the blade. The blade that would've went straight into Haku's chest, instead jerked down and to the right, impaling Haku through his hip. There was a blink of killing intent from Zabuza which was all the warning Naruto got before he was hit by a massive dragon made of water.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried, rushing towards Zabuza who hadn't let up his murderous assault. He tore his blade out of Naruto's chakra and was using it to carve into Naruto again and again. "Eight Trigrams; Thirty Two Palms!" She screamed in rage as she charged. "Two palms!" Zabuza let the first two strikes through, and gasped as he felt the chakra points close. "Four palms!" He shifted to block her attacks, but just took the blows on his arm instead. "Eight palms!" Unable to use chakra with his free hand, he stomped on the senbon in Hinata's foot, driving it deeper and breaking her ankle. "Sixteen palms!" Hinata ignored the pain, too focused on bringing Zabuza down to pay attention to the agony in her foot, or Zabuza raising his sword to strike off her head. "Thirty two palms!" Only to find the blade caught by a growling Naruto whose blue chakra was being overtaken by red. The final blows thudded into him and Zabuza sagged, only to be sent flying from a massive uppercut from Naruto. Naruto stalked forward, his eyes red, and whisker marks making deep lines in his face.

"Naruto, stop," Hinata said, collapsing from the pain in her foot.

"He hurt you," Naruto growled, looking back at Hinata. "You are in so much pain. You felt so much fear and rage. And nobody is allowed to do that to you."

Hinata smiled and focused on the love and joy she felt at his words. "We're better than him," she said, beckoning him to come over to her. "And we've beaten him. He can't fight back anymore. We don't need to kill him, and he can't hurt me anymore."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," Naruto said, taking a deep breath and heading over to Hinata and giving her a big hug. The red chakra slowly faded and let his normal blue chakra take back over. "I guess you lost to a couple of kits after all!" he yelled to Zabuza.

"Heh, I guess so," Zabuza chuckled, a little bit of blood trickling out of his mouth. "Your demon shtick had me fooled. I wasn't expecting that cheesy fox disguise to be hiding a Hyuuga. And you must be the jinchuuriki of the Leaf. Your chakra is a lot like the current Mizukage's."

"Oh. Oh dear," Hinata said, going pale.

_/*/_

"Wow, you two really are idiots," Zabuza laughed. The pair had panicked when they realized that Zabuza had figured out who they were, and had grabbed him and Haku along with their hard earned spoils from Gato's home. Now they were sitting on the deck of their new boat, while the villagers formed a mob and started driving out Gato's goons.

"Give us a break. The only reason this is a problem is because we don't want to kill you," Naruto groaned, wrapping bandages around Haku's wounds, who had been radiating relief ever since the fight ended.

"That's what makes you an idiot," Zabuza said. "If I'm a threat, you should finish me off while I'm at your mercy. Just because you spared me doesn't mean I won't sell the information that there is a jinchuuriki and a Hyuuga roaming around together without the Leaf's protection or knowledge."

"Why?" Naruto asked, cocking his head.

"Because I need money, idiot. Do you think I was working for a scumbag like Gato because it was fun?" Zabuza asked, sarcastically.

"I _was_ wondering about that," Naruto admitted. "But what do you need that much money for?"

"To hire ninja," Haku said, radiating an odd combination of sympathy, eagerness, and pride.

"For what?" Hinata asked, her curiosity rising.

"The current Mizukage needs to die. He's been ordering the genocide of entire clans of people. Pretty much anyone who has a kekki genkai is liable to be slaughtered at his orders. That's what happened to Haku's parents," Zabuza said, nodding towards Haku. "So I want to overthrow him, but I need resources in order for it to work. Thus Gato. Slimy as he may be, he pays well."

"So that's why Haku is so devoted to you," Naruto mused rubbing his chin. "And hmm, you know, I might be able to help you out. See, we just earned-"

"Stole," Zabuza interrupted.

"Earned!" Naruto said, firmly. "A bunch of money. More than we could use, really. So why don't we give some to you?"

"And in exchange we don't blab about you? Fat chance," Zabuza snorted. "We aren't going to just take some bribe and play nice."

"Why not? You were working for Gato after all. You can't have that many scruples if that is the case. And don't tell me you couldn't have just killed his men and taken the money for yourself. We didn't have any trouble robbing him blind, you wouldn't have had any either," Hinata asked.

"Because I need my reputation to remain intact," Zabuza explained. "I'm trying to start a revolution. People aren't going to follow me if I have a reputation for backstabbing my clients."

"So why don't we hire you then?" Hinata asked.

"I told you-"

"Not to keep our secret," Hinata said, quickly. "But to protect the Land of Waves. Someone needs to keep the peace now that we've removed Gato."

"Yeah. Don't let some other power-hungry tyrant take over and make sure those bandits don't start raiding everywhere. Protect as many people as you can, and guide them into building a better nation," Naruto added.

"And how does that help you?" Zabuza asked, sneering.

"It'll keep you contained to the Land of Waves. This land is poor, they won't hire ninjas. Not unless they really really need to," Hinata said. "And if you're doing your job, then they won't need to. So if you are stuck in the Land of Waves, you aren't going to be able to tell anyone about us."

"Come on, it's a good deal for both of us," Naruto said, sensing Zabuza's hesitation. "Haku likes the idea too." Zabuza glanced at Haku who faintly blushed.

"It would be good practice for when you become the new Mizukage," Haku said, faintly.

"I suppose it would," Zabuza said, rubbing his chin. "Alright then brats, you have yourselves a deal."

Naruto cheered, and shook Zabuza's hand. Later the pair cast off, and waved goodbye to Haku who saw them off.

"So where to next?" Hinata asked, resting her head against Naruto, her illusion finally dispelled.

"Dunno. Whatever is across the sea I guess," Naruto said, beaming a brilliant smile at Hinata as he steered them out towards the open sea.

* * *

**Author's Notes: I can't believe it's been almost a year since I updated this one. I don't really have much of an excuse for that. This chapter just drained a lot of motivation out of me to write. You can probably find the places that I decided were boring and cut them down to something much smaller. **

**As for the chapter itself? Well it's basically a version of the Land of Waves Arc. Slight differences as they head to a different town, and they do it sooner then they go there in canon. **

**They do beat Zabuza pretty handily, but that's a combo of a few things. First, Naruto and Hinata are much stronger than their canon counterparts at this time. Naruto has gotten a weird form of training from Kuruma that has made him basically immune to anything less than an A-ranked Jutsu, and Hinata's interactions with Naruto lead to more extensive training/punishment. Second, the pair of them are a bad match up for him and Haku. Haku is basically useless against them, as he can't get past Naruto's chakra, and Hinata can deflect his senbon. Similarly, Zabuza's mist techniques just serve to hide what Naruto and Hinata are doing from him. They can see through it just fine. Third, they caught Zabuza by surprise. Naruto's technique is basically unique, and Hinata had her disguise, so he wasn't prepared to suddenly be facing the Gentle Fist. **

**Speaking of, Hinata's disguise. I was really hesitant to put this in, but figured it was actually appropriate for Hinata in this story. She's more than a little obsessed with Naruto and openly wants to be a demon like him. So she disguises herself as what is basically her 'OC'. But using the Gentle Fist is a pretty big clue on who she is, and Naruto being a multi-tailed fox demon isn't exactly being subtle either. **


	9. Chapter 6

"Whoo! Another beautiful day on the ocean," Naruto cheered, climbing out onto deck.

"**Kill me now," **Kuruma groaned, his paws over his face.

_Still sea sick huh? _Naruto thought, as he relieved a sleepy Hinata at the wheel. A quick check to the compass showed they were still headed in the same direction.

"**How are you not? I know you are feeling the same infernal up and down lurching as I am. And yet your stomach isn't affected at all," **Kuruma said.

_Guess I'm just stronger than you, _Naruto thought, with a shit eating grin.

"**You damn punk! Come try me if your are feeling so cocky!" **Kuruma roared, shooting to his feet, before immediately collapsing. **"That was a mistake. Oh Sage Almighty that was a big mistake," **he moaned, retching. Kuruma covered his eyes with his paws, as he rolled onto his side, panting.

_How can you even throw up? _Naruto asked, lashing the wheel in place and checking the sails. They seemed appropriately billowy to him, so he nodded in satisfaction and moved on.

"**Everything eats, even demons. You turn what you eat into fat. I turn what I eat into chakra," **Kuruma said, keeping his eyes closed.

"Yeah, but you've been inside me my whole life. What was the last thing you ate?" Naruto asked.

"**Some cocky ninja from Konoha," **Kuruma said.

"Right. The rampage," Naruto said, awkwardly trailing off into silence. Not that Kuruma noticed, being too sick to pay attention. Naruto gave himself a mental shake, and decided to practice manipulating his chakra. He carefully put on chakra claw on the wheel of the boat, and then headed to the ship's kitchen, letting the claw stretch out behind him. He stood in the door to the kitchen and set out to making breakfast and lunch, while only using his chakra to pick up ingredients and the tools.

"And now for the tricky part," Naruto whispered, after putting a frying pan down. He focused, concentrating one claw as tightly as possible. The chakra practically hummed as it was compressed, turning the claw into a thin tendril, and Naruto gingerly moved it towards an egg. As soon as the tendril touched the egg, the egg exploded, and Naruto lost control of the chakra, creating a blast of air which launched the pan, the cooking utensils, and the eggs all over the room.

"Well, I guess I can practice my chakra cleaning then," Naruto groaned, as he stared at the disaster he had created in the kitchen.

_/*/_

Later, Naruto was joined by Hinata for lunch once she woke up. He had eventually given up on eggs, and settled for soup out of a can.

"Thanks for the meal," the pair said, cheerfully, before digging in. After lunch they sat on the bow of the ship and watched the ocean.

"Naruto," Hinata began, "I have to admit, that despite how much I'm enjoying being free of Konoha, and how beautiful this view is, I'm-"

"Bored?" Naruto guessed.

"Restless," Hinata corrected. "I need something to do, and I can only go through my family's katas so many times."

"Yeah, I get that. I can only do so much practice with my chakra arms before I get bored too," Naruto said. "So how about we play a game?"

"Like what? There isn't anything on board we could use for a game," Hinata asked, curious.

"How about this? Tag, you're it!" Naruto said, poking Hinata and grinning cheekily. Hinata looked at him in shock for a second, before a sense of joy and eagerness warned him of her attempting to get him back. Naruto leap up laughing and grabbed onto the mast with his chakra. Hinata shot after him, running up the mast while Naruto swung from the ropes. He bounced off the sail and couldn't quite control his spinning, as Hinata's fingertips brushed against his cheek.

"Got you," she said, triumph flashing from her emotions. She dove off the mast, and rolled to absorb her fall. Naruto pursued her and caught himself an inch above the deck with his chakra. He looked up in time to see Hinata jump over the edge of the ship. Rushing over, Naruto looked over the edge to see Hinata smiling up at him, her feet firmly planted on the side of the boat and her eyes glittering brilliantly.

"Don't think you'll get away that easily," Naruto faux-growled, letting his chakra grow into faint claws on his hands and feet before chasing after her on all fours. He pounced at her, and she elegantly twirled out of the way, never even glancing back as she did. Without losing a beat, she reversed direction and started running towards the prow of the ship. Naruto chased after her, grinning as he felt Hinata's joy bubbling up from the constant low level affection she emitted. He leapt after her again, only to miss when Hinata stepped onto the bowspit, and flipped herself back onto the deck. Naruto used chakra arms to launch himself high in the air, and then grabbed onto the ropes to launch himself like an arrow at Hinata. She spun out of the way, Naruto's fingers missing by less than an inch, before slipping over the edge again.

"So close, Naruto," she called, as she ran away. Naruto shook his head from his landing, and continued the chase. Hinata lead him towards the stern of the ship, and balanced herself on the rudder. This time when Naruto caught up to her, he went for a low lunge. Hinata jumped, and widened her eyes comically, as gravity kicked in and dragged her off into the ocean.

"Pretty girl overboard," Naruto yelled, moving his chakra arms to fish Hinata out of the water. He lifted the dripping wet girl upwards as Naruto climbed back onto the deck. He placed her down gently and took a close look at her. Hinata was shivering and rubbing at her eyes. Her pale skin was flushed with embarrassment as the emotion radiated from her.

"T-thanks, Naruto," Hinata stammered, not looking at him.

"No problem, Hinata. Guess you got a little carried away, huh?" Naruto said, nudging the girl.

"I-I-I guess s-so," Hinata said, poking her fingers together. "Y-you, umm, you. Youcalledmepretty," she finished in a rush. Naruto immediately blushed, and looked away.

"Umm, yeah, haha, I guess I did," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, I mean, it's true. Your a girl, and your very pretty, and you fell overboard, haha." Naruto felt a deep upwelling of emotion from Hinata, affection mixed with that weird emotion he had only ever felt from her.

"T-thank you," Hinata said, grabbing Naruto's hands and smiling at him. "I-" Hinata glanced down at herself, and blushed until she her face was as red as a tomato. "I should change my shirt," she said, standing up. Naruto looked up and blushed his ownself. The water had made Hinata's rather thin shirt cling to her skin, and Naruto clasped his hands over his nose as he averted his eyes.

"Y-yeah, probably a good idea," he stammered, nodding. "I guess we can play some more, later." Hinata nodded, and ran off, as Naruto took several deep breaths to compose himself.

_/*/_

Later that day, Naruto was standing by the wheel of the ship while he did his best to keep the sun at the ships back, but the wind wasn't cooperating, so he settled for keeping it to the right instead. He yawned as the water got choppy and the boat began to lurch between the waves.

"Good evening, Naruto," Hinata said, easily walking across the swaying ship as she carried dinner up to Naruto.

"Evening, Hinata. What's for dinner tonight?" he asked, looking at the tray she was carrying.

"I thought I would try to make a fruit salad. Also, I cracked open a can of sardines. So fruit and fish," Hinata said.

"Huh, okay," Naruto said, shrugging. He looked at the bowl of fruit in puzzlement, it was a bunch of cut apple pieces. He took one and ate it, revealing the orange slices underneath. He laughed and mixed the bowl of layered fruit with his chopsticks, creating a proper fruit salad. He snagged a sardine and ate the oily fish down in a single bite.

"I know it's not very good," Hinata murmured, picking at her own food. "I never really appreciated how hard it was for my servants to prepare my meals until now."

"Don't worry about it, I don't really know how to cook either," Naruto said, waving a hand dismissively. "In fact, I'd say this is a lot better than the stuff I was scavenging back in Konoha."

"Really? The meals you've been making have been better than mine," Hinata said, confusion flowing from her.

"Ahh, I'm just good at choosing pre-made meals," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not really doing any actual cooking."

"Hm," Hinata hummed, radiating disagreement.

"So how far do you think we have to go?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.

"I'm not sure," Hinata said. "I imagine it's a pretty far journey, or else my clan would have records about what's actually across the ocean."

"Yeah? So nobody has ever been there before? That's awesome," Naruto said, smiling.

"I'm sure there will be people there at least," Hinata said.

"I wonder what they are like?" Naruto mused.

"Well what do you hope they are like?" Hinata asked. "I'm hoping they are nice and open to new ideas, a people who aren't bound by tradition on who they should be."

"Hmm, personally, I just want to see some cool new jutsus. I mean, maybe they don't have ninja. Maybe everyone is free to use chakra to do whatever they want instead of just fighting with them. Think about it, maybe they'll have jutsus that control the weather, or to just instantly build a house," Naruto said.

"Why didn't you learn any jutsus back in the village?" Hinata asked.

"Ehhh, that's kinda complicated," Naruto said. He felt the disappointment coming from Hinata and sighed. "It's mostly that I didn't want to be a ninja, so I didn't bother to put any effort into learning the jutsus taught at the academy, or else the old man would expect me to pass the test to become a ninja. That and the academy jutsus are kinda lame."

"I suppose so," Hinata said. "But I feel like you're leaving something out."

"Kinda. But don't worry about it, it's not that important," Naruto said, sweating a bit. "On a different note, is it just me, or is the wind picking up?"

"I feel it too," Hinata said, standing up. A spike of fear shot through her as she stared out at the horizon. "Um, Naruto, where did that come from?" she asked, nervously.

"Where what came from?" Naruto asked, standing up as well. A wall of storm clouds filled the Western horizon and the ship creaked as the winds tugged at the sails. The sheet of gray went on for as far as the eye could see, and distant flashes of lightning would come down as Naruto watched. Naruto stared at the incoming storm, his eyes wide.

"What should we do Naruto?" Hinata asked, tugging at Naruto's sleeve.

"Umm, we should run away! Yeah! The wind of the storm will push us forward, so we'll outrace it. Right?"

"That makes sense," Hinata said, smiling, even as her fear and apprehension rose up within her. Naruto gulped and turned the ship to be pointing directly away from the storm. The boat lurched as the waves struck it.

_/*/_

"**Brat, you are not allowed to drown to death, you hear me?" **Kuruma roared in Naruto's mind, trying desperately to stop himself from puking as the boat pitched with each massive wave.

"Don't think it's up to me big guy!" Naruto yelled back as he tried to keep control of the ship in the storm.

"What?" Hinata yelled from her position on the deck. She had been retying snapped ropes and trying to replace a sail that had torn free from the winds.

"Nothing!" Naruto yelled back, as he strained against the wheel. He was using his 'demon form' and was anchoring himself to the wood by the simple method of digging into the slippery wet wood with his claws. He imagined Hinata was doing something similar with her chakra control so she wouldn't fall when the ship bucked from the waves. There was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder.

"**That's right on top of us brat! Weren't you trying to avoid this storm?" **Kuruma yelled as he cradled his head with his paws.

"Yeah, well, that didn't work now did it?" Naruto snarled, wiping water from his eyes. A wave broke from right behind them, hammering down into Naruto, and snapping the railing on its way down to the deck. "Hinata!" Naruto yelled.

"I see it!" She said, slapping the debris away with the palm of her hand, and almost dancing over the wave as it drained into the ocean. A rope to the main sail snapped, and she casually ducked it as it whipped across the ship, slapping into Naruto's chakra, before flying out of reach.

"Geeze, that hit harder than Neji," Naruto said, as the sail began to twist and catch the wind in a different direction. The boat groaned as the wheel fought Naruto's grip, and the entire ship began to tip over sideways.

"Oh no," Hinata gasped, her voice lost to the wind. She looked up at the tangle of ropes and gulped, her confusion calling Naruto's attention to her, who could only stare helplessly at her. He didn't have a clue what to do either, but the boat was nearly sideways at this point, and they had to do something. He could feel Hinata come to a decision as determination bloomed in her mind. She shot forward to the base of the mast and slammed her fists into it. She smashed it again and again, yelling in rage as her hands dug into the wood, filling with splinters even as the mast slowly began to break. It finally snapped the mast quickly being dragged into the ocean as the ship suddenly righted itself.

"Good job Hinata," Naruto called, sensing Hinata's relief. Hinata sent a spark of pride to Naruto at his words, and then a massive wave swept across the ship, completely engulfing Naruto. He endured the hit and waited patiently, until he felt a wave of panic and fear overcome Hinata. Immediately, Naruto let go of the wheel and shot upwards, extending his claws downwards to get extra height. The ship began to spin out of control as Naruto frantically scanned the ship's deck for Hinata. He looked out to where he was detecting her fear and cursed. It was coming from off the side of the boat, in the ocean.

"Pretty girl overboard," Naruto yelled, diving off the ship into the stormy waters. He reached out blindly with his chakra claws, trying to catch a hold of Hinata, but to his frustration he got nothing and could feel her getting further away. He flailed away at the water, trying to get closer as the ship capsized behind him and began to sink.

"**Kit what the hell do you think you're doing? Didn't I tell you not to drown?" **Kuruma demanded, finally breaking out of his misery now that the lurching of the ship was gone.

"I have to save Hinata!" Naruto yelled back, desperately trying to get closer to Hinata's presence.

"**You idiot, you don't know how to swim! How do you expect to help her when you can barely keep your head above the water?" **Kuruma said. **"Oh wait, nevermind. How can you help her as you drown?" **Kuruma asked sarcastically as Naruto slipped beneath the waves. The giant fox sighed, and forcibly pulled Naruto's mind towards him.

"Wha? Why are you interfering?" Naruto asked, taking a moment to reorient himself.

"**Because you are failing. At this rate you'll die pointlessly," **Kuruma said, matter of factly.

"Well what else can I do?" Naruto yelled in frustration.

"**You can leave it to me. You see that seal on those bars?" **Kuruma said.

"Yeah?"

"**Remove that, and I'll be able to leave this prison entirely, allowing my real form to exit your body. I'll be able to save both you and Hinata," **Kuruma explained.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Let's do this," Naruto said, eagerly moving towards the bars of Kuruma's cell. He grabbed a hold of the seal, only to be interrupted by an arm wrapping around his chest and pushing him back.

"What do you think you are doing?" a stranger with blond hair and blue eyes said.

"**You interfering bastard! What do you think you're doing?" **Kuruma roared through the bars, rattling his prison bars.

"Bringing my son to his senses, obviously," the man said.

"Your son?" Naruto asked, falling on his butt.

"That's right Naruto, I am your father," the man said, offering Naruto a hand to stand up.

"My father? How is this possible? My father is dead," Naruto asked, allowing himself to be pulled up.

"I copied my personality into the seal, to emerge if it was about to be broken," Naruto's father said.

"Okay. But do I know you? You look really familiar," Naruto asked.

"**Seriously brat? His face is carved into a mountain. This is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze." **

"I knew that," Naruto said, quickly. Minato and Kuruma both gave him looks of disbelief.

"Anyways, I'm surprised at how calm you are demon fox. I expected you to be all 'Rar, I hate you fourth Hokage. I'm a big fat fox who's still salty about losing to you in a fight," Minato said.

"**I lost you say? Funny. I'm about to be freed, and I'm far enough away from any ninja that being resealed is basically impossible. Meanwhile, you're not only dead, but trapped in eternal torment inside the Reaper's belly. In fact, I'm glad you managed to slip a echo into the seal. Now you can fail in person," **Kuruma said, with a dark laugh.

"Please, I'm sure Naruto is just confused or misunderstanding something, I'm sure I can think of another solution rather than letting you out," Minato scoffed.

"Well I'm drowning alone in the middle of the ocean while a storm rages around me. I don't know how to swim, and I have to rescue my Hinata at the same time," Naruto summarized. "Besides, I don't see what the big deal is, if I had known it was that easy to free him, I would've done it already."

"You what! What do you mean, you would've freed him already? He would've slaughtered everyone in the village if you did that," Minato exclaimed. Naruto frowned at him, despite his apparent shock, Naruto wasn't detecting any emotions from him.

_Is that because he's like the Old Man, and can hide his emotions? Is that just a thing Hokage's can do? Or is it because he isn't really here? _Naruto thought.

"That doesn't matter," Naruto said, bluntly. "Regardless of what I would've done, I will die if I don't free him now."

"Not necessarily. I can teach you a technique that could send you back to Konoha in a heartbeat," Minato said.

"Oh cool! Can we use it to save Hinata too?" Naruto asked, beaming.

"Er no, it can only transport one person," Minato admitted.

"Well than that's useless. I'm not leaving without Hinata," Naruto said.

"Don't be an idiot, it's better that you at least live, rather than you both die," Minato said, taking a step forward.

"Shut up! Your the one who doesn't know anything. I'm the person who brought Hinata out of the village, and I'm responsible for her. I'll never give her up to anyone, not even to the Reaper himself. So either help me save her, or get out of my way!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists and walking forward.

"What, and you think freeing the Demon Fox will save her? He'll kill you and her before going on a rampage someplace else! You can't risk freeing him!" Minato yelled back, throwing his arms out to block Naruto's path.

"Hey big guy, you gonna betray me and murder Hinata?" Naruto asked, looking past his father to Kuruma.

"**Nope,"** Kuruma said, smiling widely.

"There you go. And I trust him a lot more than I trust you. He's been there my entire life, given me advice when I needed it, taught me how to survive, and trained me to be a proper demon. Who are you in comparison to that?" Naruto said, stepping up to Minato and looking him in the eye.

"I'm your father," Minato said, trying to be stern.

"My father's dead. You're just some crappy echo he left in my head. Now go away," Naruto said, lightly pushing against Minato who vanished into faintly glowing dust.

"**Hahaha, oh Kit, you make me so proud," **Kuruma laughed.

"Thanks," Naruto said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Besides, you're basically my dad when I think about it. So...sniff, so it's not like I've actually lost my dad at all," he continued, frantically wiping his face with his sleeve to contain his tears. He missed Kuruma pause, before shuddering, his red fur sticking on end.

"**Well Kit, we are on a time limit here, let's get this done," **Kuruma said, gruffly, trying to settle down.

"Right," Naruto said, tearing the seal from the cell doors.

_/*/_

Kuruma laughed and laughed as he burst out of the cell. Naruto's body exploded with red chakra as Kuruma poured out of his body and into the real world. The ocean water was forced away by Kuruma's sheer mass and he had one moment of triumph before the water came rushing back in. He sputtered and spat out the sea water that had shot up his nose, as he paddled back up to the surface. The mighty waves that had overwhelmed Hinata and Naruto were mere splashes against his neck, the pounding rain a mere drizzle.

Taking a moment to inspect himself, he was shocked to see a bright blue orb inside his body. It seems that Naruto had instinctively shielded himself with his own chakra, preventing himself from being torn apart by Kuruma's raging power when the demon fox left his body. Kuruma hesitated, he could feel the binding between him and Naruto still, he may be free for now as Naruto was unconscious, but when the kit woke up, he'd be able to drag him back inside.

_**Should I betray him? It would be nothing to crack that shield like an egg, and tear the kit apart. Then I would be truly free. I could return to Konoha and get my revenge, I could retreat to the wilderness and remain forever free from humanity from that point on. **_Kuruma thought to himself. He felt an odd bit of reluctance at the thought. Betraying the kit didn't sit well with him, and really, the kit wasn't a bad host and he wasn't entirely wrong when the kit called him his- Kuruma shuddered again, and forced his thoughts away from what he was thinking.

Instead he focused on his environment instead. Just swirling gray clouds, sheets of rain, and a dark sea. Nothing really to see, but he wasn't limited to just his sight. Kuruma sniffed the air, and focused on his emotion sensing. Off in the distance, he could oh so faintly smell his brothers, the closest being Shukaku whose faintly sandy smell wasn't really that far off, all things considered. The other thing to note was the tiny frightened mote of emotion that was swirling around his paw. It was the kit's vixen, and again, Kuruma felt reluctant to allow that mote of life to be snuffed out.

_**Oh this is pathetic. The great nine tailed demon fox, saving a couple of humans because of feelings, **_Kuruma thought with disgust as he gently picked the vixen up with his tail and brought it around to his face.

"Naruto?" the vixen asked, coughing up water, even as the warm love and faith she showed the kit shone upon Kuruma.

"**Nay. I am the kit's fa-ahem. I am the kit's mentor. And I won't be dishonored by allowing a kit of mine to die to a bit of bad weather," **Kuruma rumbled.

"Oh. Are you going to save us?" the vixen asked, weakly.

"**I suppose I shall do so this once. Though I will expect the two of you to pay me back in some manner once we reach shore," **Kuruma said. **"For now, sleep little vixen. I will handle things from here.**" Overwhelmed, Hinata nodded, and allowed herself to pass out. Carefully, Kuruma parted the chakra that made up his body and slowly brought Hinata's body to Naruto's. He couldn't help but smile when Naruto's chakra shield opened up to allow Hinata in when she reached his barrier.

"**Ridiculous little kits," **Kuruma snorted, raising his snout high and swimming towards his brother's scent.

* * *

**Author's Notes: ****So I had fun looking up the ways to correctly sail through a storm, and then have Naruto do basically the opposite of that. **

**Besides that, Naruto got some pretty massive power boosts here, in getting Kuruma as an ally and developing his chakra whip. The big difference from canon regarding Kuruma is that they aren't really equals at this point. If Kuruma wants to, he can pretty much take over Naruto's body more or less whenever, and the best Naruto could do to fight back is to force Kuruma to kill him in order to be free. **


End file.
